Freelancer: Athena
by Athena-FL
Summary: The chronicles of Tanya, a young pilot embarking on an epic adventure of romance, action and intrigue in the Freelancer universe!
1. Chapter 1

Part One

A column of smoke poured from the hull of the severely damaged bloodhound light fighter. The flames that enveloped the ship, combined with the poor handling clearly indicated the craft was on its last legs. The pilot struggled with the controls but with a wing and tail blown off control was difficult. It wasn't long before the craft flew into a Badlands asteroid, exploding in a fireball, the pilot screaming as he came closer to his doom.

For many kilometres, the wreckage and part-chassis of destroyed fighters lay strewn. For some unlucky pilots whose ships were merely crippled and were drifting without power, their voices could be heard on all pirate channels, the pitiful pleas for help from the injured or dying falling on deaf ears.

This was the New York system, Liberty space, Sirius sector.

This was the ending for those brave enough to fight in space and be on the losing side. Today, a fleet of cadets from West Point Academy had virtually annihilated a task force of Liberty Rogue fighters. Some of the Rogues were veterans of many years, struggling to eke an existence in the harsh environment of Sirius. There was no hope for those that were weak. The abundance of natural resources enabled population expansion and technological advancements in parallel. The automobiles of the 21st century had been replaced with starships, fighters, freighters and transports. Everyone had one. It was said, some very wealthy people had access to gunboats, cruisers and battleships, but this was as yet unproven.

The side-effect of such fertile conditions? Life was cheap. Humans had expanded farther into the Sirius sector than ever before at a rate that had staggered even the scientists at reknowned places like Cambridge Research Station.

Three Rogue ships had survived the skirmish with the West Point cadets. They limped back at cruise to Beaumont Base in Texas, the nearest friendly base beyond range of Liberty patrols, via a jump hole. It was a despondent, subdued journey. No-one spoke of the earlier conflict. Nothing was necessary. The Rogues had become complacent, they lost ground today to the next generation of Liberty defenders and at the same time, lost most of their seasoned and experienced pilots.

The pilots docked at the station, met with a hundred disappointed faces. Some sobbing could be heard from the crowd. One man stepped forwards. He wore a dark grey single-piece uniform, a small tube that ran the length of his left shoulder to a breather at his nose hissed at regular intervals. The three pilots climbed down from their cockpits and removed their helmets watching him. They looked tired, weary.

"You are all that remain?" asked the man. He was in his late-thirties, dark hair, slightly greying at the temples. A man of medium-build but in good shape, he radiated authority, purpose and power. Everyone listened quietly as he spoke.

"Yes, we had over thirty fighters. We managed to destroy at least a dozen before another wing of fighters came out of nowhere. We were flanked and before we could respond were caught in a cross-fire. We had no chance!" said one of the pilots. He wiped some blood from his forehead, a result of some equipment coming loose and striking his helmet heavily during the fight.

The man shook his head in disbelief. He turned his attention back to the pilots, his frown increasing in intensity. The pilots felt very small indeed.

"This was meant to be a lesson. A lesson that would teach the Liberty military and police not to venture into the Badlands ever again. How is it, a group of green, untrained cadets were able to take down some of our finest? Men with families that no longer have the means to support themselves," the man was shouting now, his rage almost tangible. He waved his hand behind him. "You see these people? The men vaporised in space feed them no longer and they have to survive by scraping a life amongst the debris fields once more!"

The pilots stepped back in fear.

"We did all we could. They had, experts with them. Surely not all were mere cadets - they flew like aces! Please! We were slaughtered out there. Even our equipment was inferior..!" Suddenly the man stopped in his tracks. He looked down slowly, eyes wide open. A hole had appeared in his chest, a blackened, charred ring was sizzling - a result of a high-energy blast. He looked up and managed to gasp once, then fell to his back sightless eyes staring accusingly at the other two pilots, who looked away.

The man in the grey uniform sheathed his gun smoothly and hissed. "Excuses. Get rid of him."

Some men walked forwards and dragged the body away, then the man turned to face the crowd and raised his voice high, so all could hear.

"You have grown soft! Compared to life in the Border Worlds, this is nothing! The Liberty bastards are trampling all over you and this is your response? Weak! You are all weak!"

One of the two pilots seemed as if he was about to speak but was restrained by the other, who clamped a hand onto his shoulder shaking his head.

"You know who I am. I represent the Outcasts. And when I make my report to the Don he will not be pleased. He will not be pleased that the Junkers and Rogues of Liberty are lapdogs and bullseyes. We must find a way to get your part of space back. Then we will make the people of Liberty and those who oppose us, pay. Be it by death, or other. Mark my words. This is not the end by any means. We Outcasts will help you. In fact, we have already started helping you. Now. Get back to work. We have a long journey ahead of us!".

The man stalked away to his ship, light gleaming from it's dark hull and the deadly weapons mounted on it. A reflection of it's owner.

Several months later

The alarm went off. As always the noise was deafening, especially for those still in deep slumber. A naked arm pushed forth from the covers, trying to find the offending clock in a lazy attempt to turn it off. As usual, the clock was at the far side of the bedside table, 'just' beyond reach forcing more of an effort. A lock of long, hazel-coloured hair fell onto the covers as the girl stretched reaching for the clock and turned the alarm off.

She fell back to the bed, a spray of hair now surrounding her head. She was in her early twenties, her green eyes blinked as she struggled to focus in the dim light.

"Blinds," she said aloud sleepily. The voice recognition computer activated the shutters at the opposite end of the room. The girl smiled as she saw the impressive view emerge. In high orbit above Planet Hiran, Sigma-19, her room aboard the Luxury Liner Hawaii was one of the finest views of the system. She shivered and leaned up, wrapping the sheet around her.

"Climate dry, twenty degrees!" she ordered. Almost immediately a gust of warm air enveloped her, the vents around her room changing the temperature accordingly.

It had been a rough night, she thought to herself trying to remember what happened. She smiled as the fog of sleep lifted, then raised her hand to her mouth as she remembered something.

"Voice Call, room one-one-four-six!" she demanded. A soft beeping began from the speaker near her bed. Moments later another sleepy voice responded, this one male.

"By Kusari hells. What time do you call this? Who's on the line please?" he asked. He had an oriental accent, the soft burr was clear though the voice was tired.

"Hi Kenji. It's Tanya. Wake up!" said the girl. She was already rising, the sheet wrapped around her making the journey from bed to bathroom a complicated task. "Do you know what day it is today?" she asked, eventually dropping the sheet having tripped for the second time. Her build was athletic, legs toned, slim waist. She lithely stepped across the cold floor to the bathroom and undressed entering the shower.

"Uh, Tanya. Is that water I hear?" asked Kenji curiously. He was one of the finest pilots she had met. Hailing from a clan based in Kusari space, his family for generations had been one of the leading bounty hunter groups in Sirius. His flight style was clean, precise and efficient. He also had a great sense of humour buried deep within a strong sense of tradition and a big soul. Tanya loved him like a brother.

"Yes!" she shouted back. The water was cold initially but warmed up quickly. "I don't have a lot of time," she shrieked as she dropped the soap. "Anyway, we're heading out to Omicron Theta today. Have you been there before? I hear that corsairs fly there freely, along with other pirates and freelancers who trade illegal goods!" The water stopped, and warm air was blasted into the cubicle.

"Uh, what? Theta? Yes. I have been there," shouted Kenji over the noise from the dryer. "But only when I was much younger! It is dangerous. In fact, all the border worlds are dangerous. They are not patrolled by any major force. We are lucky to be on the Hawaii in one piece, given our last encounter with those damned Outcasts."

Tanya grimaced for a moment, the dryer turned off and she stepped out feeling refreshed. She walked over naked to a wardrobe and pulled out some underwear and a jumpsuit.

"Those 'damned' Outcasts are human like us, you know," she said. There was a pause before her friend replied in a tone she had never heard before.

"No way, Tanya. They're monsters. You hear the stories of what they do to captured pilots? They torture them. Put out eyes. Dismember limbs. Monsters."

Tanya looked annoyed as she zipped up her suit, then walked over to a full-length mirror briefly before tying her hair back as she did so.

"Listen," she began. "The Outcasts are just like us. They are just forced to exist differently. If the big corporations and militaries would accept them as another legitimate territory, we could open trade with them and have no more wars."

Kenji laughed.

"Tanya. You are going native, my dear. We have been here for one month and already you know how they think. Our families would think the worst of us, especially if they found out how much research you were doing about the Outcasts," he joked.

"See you on the flight deck, Kenji," said Tanya smiling. She put on a pair of light flying shoes and grabbed her cap from a hook near the door.

"Lights off!" she said and stepped out into the corridor, the door closing behind her with a soft hiss.

Luxury Liner Hawaii was an incredible piece of technology. It was built and managed by Orbital Spa and Cruise, a company that took paying customers, for a huge fee, the length and breadth of Sirius to dangerous yet exciting, beautiful and mysterious places. The Sigma-19 system was the most impressive and reknowned of locations. Naturally, the passengers would require escorts through dangerous territory, the escorts by nature were some of the most accomplished pilots in Sirius.

Tanya and Kenji were members of wealthy families. Noble houses who felt that the best training a Sirius pilot could get, would be to fly in the most dangerous territories available. It was risky, especially for those families who did not have many children and could little afford the risk. Others decided any risk was worth it. Trustworthy pilots were rare these days, many 'escorts' had turned on their paymasters demanding extortionate sums or be blasted into oblivion. Many were slain even if the funds were transferred.

Tanya loved spaceflight. She had long grown accustomed in her twenty-three standard years of life to the rigours of jump gate travel, combat and patrols. Her Banshee light fighter, dubbed, "Athena" was her favourite ship by far, although she yearned to fly a Very Heavy Fighter one day. It was incredibly agile, could mount powerful guns and best of all, looked great. She walked to a viewing gallery that overlooked the main hangar. She watched in fascination as dozens of ships, shuttles, and freighters docked and undocked. Loading and unloading their cargo. Repairs were being done by highly advanced maintenance robots in one area, sparks flying everywhere. She watched as one fighter docked. It wasn't one she recognised, a sleek dark shape that had a double wing connected by two stabilisers.

'Sabre, Sabre, Sabre' a voice whispered in her mind. She shook her head as a bright light suddenly flashed behind her eyes. Damn, these headaches were getting worse, she told herself.

Her curiosity aroused, Tanya headed for the lift but distracted by the hangar, wasn't watching where she was going and bumped into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologised. The man before her held her gaze. His dark eyes penetrated her own almost staring into her soul. She shivered. The man was in his mid-twenties, light brown hair and wore some strange tattoos across his cheeks, three maroon parallel lines across each cheek moving downwards. He wore a dark-grey uniform, but said nothing, his face impassive.

"No problem," he said. His accent was slightly Hispanic. Alarm bells rang in her mind. "I must be on my way," he nodded and tried to walk past her but she partially blocked his way. He looked down at her. "Can I help you, miss? I am in a hurry." She paused.

"No, sorry." Tanya stepped aside and smiled, then watched as the man hurried away. He entered a lift, then turned around. His head was slightly lowered, a slight frown appearing as the doors closed. She saw a glimpse of a tube coming forth from his left shoulder, then he was gone.

"Who was that?" asked Kenji from behind her. She turned grinning, ran over and hugged him tightly. "Whoa whoa! What did I do to deserve this?" he asked surprised.

"Nothing!" replied Tanya letting him go.

"So. Er. Who was he? You know him?" he asked again.

"I don't know. I think I've seen him before, but never met him. Know what I mean?" she asked distracted. Kenji pondered that for a moment.

"No, not really. You ok?" he asked, now concerned at his friend's lack of focus. "We should hurry, or we'll miss the briefing. I don't want to be late this time, or it's boring vanguard patrol duty again," he sighed. Tanya nodded.

"You're right. Let's go. Last there buys the coffee!" she laughed. As they ran to the lift, she saw the Hispanic man in the hangar, walking towards the ship that had just docked. Two other similar men stepped out, one passed over a package. The other stood on the ramp speaking. As if he was psychic, the tattooed man looked up at the gallery, catching Tanya's eyes. Then, the doors closed and he was gone again, for the second time.

Tanya didn't feel curiosity this time, she felt an overwhelming feeling of dread.

The briefing room was huge, with seating for over three hundred people. It was currently half-full, with the upper tiers of seats empty.

A large projection of the Hawaii was revolving in the centre. Commandant Sears, a veteran in his mid-fifties of over a hundred battles and several duels was standing by a podium. The Hawaii disappeared replaced with an image of Sigma-19. A number of white lines indicated the patrol routes, red were known hostiles, white were neutrals or unknowns and green were friendly. One green line that stretched from the Hawaii to the trade lane that eventually docked with Sigma-13 was almost lost amongst a maze of red and white lines. Tanya was dismayed to see there were more red, than white.

"People. Our journey today is simple. We are making for Omicron Theta. To get there, we must travel to Sigma-17, then through a cloud near Planet Kurile where we dock to re-supply, then continue to Omicron Theta. Our final destination is Freeport 9." Images flashed quickly in sync with the briefing, showing patrols and further routes.

"The journey should take no more than two hours, if all is well. On your screens you will find your wing designations, your flight leaders and patrol routes. Know this, the Outcasts have been increasing their activity over the last week. It's rumoured that a large fleet of Corsair ships are readying themselves for a strike somewhere in the Border Worlds. Right now, we do not know where or when this will happen, but both groups are not happy with our presence here. Stay sharp, stay alive. Take-off at 0900 hours. Dismissed."

Tanya reviewed her assignment, then grinned.

"Yes!" she said cheerfully to Kenji sitting next to her. She chewed her pen in thought, then spoke again. "I'm near the front doing forward recon. How about you?"

Kenji looked glum. His usually cheerful expression was dulled, dark eyes brooding and unhappy.

"Vanguard. At the back. Again," he sighed. Tanya tried to look serious.

"It's a serious job, Kenji," she said trying to stifle a smile.

"Hey, it's not funny. This is the third time. How come you get to fly all the good stuff?" he asked ruefully, but secretly happy he wasn't chosen. Recon was easily the most dangerous of all duties. For some strange reason, Tanya loved throwing herself into danger.

"Live for the moment," was her reply. She winked. "And let's face it. Life is way too short to worry about stuff like that.." she stopped suddenly grimacing in pain. Another headache came, along with another word. "Malta, Malta, Malta".

"You ok, Tanya?" asked a concerned Kenji. She blinked then took a few deep breaths.

"Yeah. Just tired I guess. Been getting these headaches recently. Well, we should get prepped. See you later. Bring my coffee, you rogue!" she laughed. Kenji mock bowed.

"Yes, mistress."

They got up and left. Behind them, another pilot watched them leave. His attention had only caught at the mention of one word: rogue.

(cont'd)


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

"That's beautiful," whispered Tanya, inadvertently over the comms. Her green eyes grew larger as she drank in the awe-inspiring sight.

The triple suns of the Sigma 17 system captured her gaze, as the two smaller sister suns blinking in and out of the night spun and rotated in the eternal dance with the larger green sun at the centre of the system. They had passed Atka station a few hours ago, heading galactic east towards a waypoint and eventually docking with Planet Kurile, a sole planet at the heart of a gas cloud.

"Recon 2! Clear the channels. We could face enemy contact any moment," ordered Recon Leader Captain Montgomery, a hard-faced woman in her late thirties. "Focus on the job. Having good family credentials isn't worth a shield battery out here, rookie," she said icily. Tanya had taken an instant dislike to her when they met at the hangar; her Wing Leader was abrupt, bad mannered and grumpy. She was probably still single. Tanya switched to a private channel.

"Kenji, this is Tanya. Can you hear me, over?" she asked. There was a pause, just long enough for Tanya to be concerned but fortunately it was short-lived.

"Tanya, my dear, yes, is Kenji here. I am a poet, no?" he replied in his usual jovial way. "The Sigma 17 suns are a sight!" he said breathlessly.

"Why did you take so long to reply?"

"Hm. Must be the suns, solar interference. Let me boost the power to my comm. Is that better?" Kenji's replies were quicker and clearer now.

"Yes. Much. How is vanguard today? Any action?"

"All quiet, may the heavens continue to grant such peace," said Kenji in monotone as though he was praying. "How about up front? Anything happening there?"

"No. Just I resist the urge to fire my Lancers at Montgomery every time she opens her mouth. I swear, if I had my way I'd send her ship without power into the Tahoe Ice Field. At least she'd be at home there," she sighed. "Formation flying is boring, but I do get a great view of the system without needing to fly my ship."

"Good, good. Well, I'm hungry."

"Always hungry," laughed Tanya interrupting.

"Yes. As I was saying, I hear they do great shell food on Kurile. It's a water planet you know, like Junyo where I'm from. Except the water is green. Not blue. Hm. Maybe I don't want to eat shellfish now." Kenji heard Tanya chuckle.

"I wonder if.." Kenji was cut short by a sharp beeping from his HUD. "Wait, I have intermittent contacts. Bearing 300. Corsair heavy fighters, Legionnaires coming out of the asteroid field!"

"Kenji! Kenji! What's happening?" asked Tanya. She could hear the other pilots chatter across the comms.

"Tanya, I am fine. There are three corsair ships and we are four, hold on."

Tanya could hear the sounds of combat, missile lock beeps, countermeasure releases, the unmistakeable noises of gunfire and of course, the screams and voices of those taking hits and dying. Kenji's console was beeping louder now. She grinned when she heard Kenji shout his familiar battle cry across the comms.

"Banzaaaii! Die pirate! You die pirate! You want some too, pirate? Eat this pirate!" screamed Kenji now lost in battle-lust, adrenaline and instinct taking over. There was a raucous cheer when the Vanguard leader announced "All clear, no more enemy contacts." Tanya breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice job, young man," she chided.

"They didn't stand a chance, Tanya!" he replied. "Some nice salvage too, think I picked up a new gun."

Suddenly, the reverie was broken.

"Vanguard Leader, three more contacts at 2k and closing at cruise. Watch the flanks!" a wing mate shouted. "Three more approaching from Atka. They look like Corsair ships, but I don't recognise their configurations."

"We're in open space here and low on ammunition," said a concerned Kenji to his Wing Leader. "We should break and take evasive action!" he called. Tanya began to worry. The closest ships were still in formation twenty klicks ahead. It would be at least fifteen minutes before she could cruise back to his position.

"Vanguard 2, I issue the orders here. Not you, rookie," said the wing leader. "Unknown ships, this is Orbital Spa and Cruise, Vanguard Escort Leader. We are on a peaceful mission to Freeport 9. Please identify yourself."

Everyone in the escort fleet waited with great trepidation. There was only silence. Some static.

"Wing Leader, they are in missile range. Please. Give the order to break, we are so tightly in formation one missile would hit us all," said Kenji.

"Silence, rookie! Anymore from you and I'll put you in the dock!" shouted the Wing Leader. "I am in command here and.." he stopped as his HUD started beeping. Everyone in the fleet heard the next few seconds in agonising detail.

'Shield disrupted' announced his HUD.

"Wait, what the..?" began the Wing Leader. He started pushing buttons.

'Shield restored. Shield disrupted. Warning, hull breach imminent.'

"Nooooo!" he screamed. Four missiles, the explosive warheads punching through his ship hull causing a shockwave that battered the three craft around him, had hammered into his ship. Kenji managed to wrestle control of his ship in time, but noted to his dismay one of the other ships was drifting crippled in space, her engines totally destroyed. Three more missiles slammed into the crippled ship along with a strafing run from what must be an incredibly powerful energy weapon, purple in colour.

Kenji cried out as he watched his wingmate be vaporised in a cloud of metal and flame.

"Vanguard 3, this is Vanguard 2. Engage the enemy, break and take evasive action. People, we need help. Now!" shouted Kenji. Again, a cacophony of battle sounds came over the comms.

"I'm on it," replied the last remaining wing mate. Tanya knew little of him, a Bretonian named Richardson but had heard from Kenji he was a capable, if unimaginative pilot.

Tanya had counted six total enemy ships earlier. She prayed the escorts would come out of this alright.

"Wing Leader Montgomery, permission to leave formation and assist Vanguard?" she asked quickly.

"Permission denied. Stay in formation and await further orders."

More screams. More gunfire.

"Richardson!" shouted Kenji. "Check your six! Your six!"

"Lost life support, lost everything!" shouted Richardson in vain.

Tanya heard a chilling scream. Then silence.

"Damn! By Kusari hells, damn!" cursed Kenji. "Wing Commander, this is Vanguard 2. I am alone. Four enemy ships remain. They are using weapons I have never seen before. Please assist!" An explosion rocked his ship. "Have lost a wing. Attempting to break for Atka!" he said. Tanya knew Kenji's fighter was a Dragon. The best Kusari space had to offer. It had a fast turn and wielded six weapon hard points.

"Montgomery, they're dying out there. Please. We should help them," begged Tanya. She felt useless.

"Denied!" shouted her Wing Leader. "Can't you take simple orders, girl?" Tanya turned her comms off. Then opened a private channel to Kenji.

"Kenji," she whispered. "I'm sorry. Are you there? Kenji?" More explosions. More gunfire. Then static. Then silence. Tanya waited. "Kenji? Are you there? Tell me you're ok. Please." Her connection was suddenly severed.

"All fighters, this is Wing Commander Leeson, Vanguard reported contact with the enemy, checking status now. Recon 1 and 2, continue on to Planet Kurile. Escorts 1 through 3 full cruise to Vanguard's last position. Rest of you hold position and await further orders. Get moving!"

The wings split up. Tanya shivered. Twenty ships were now split into three groups. And still no sign of Kenji. She choked back her tears. An image of one of her Recon wingmates, Travis from Planet Houston in Liberty, appeared on Tanya's HUD. The screen flickered as Tanya's light fighter passed through a solar ray.

"Hi Tanya, Travis here. I know you were close with one of the guys in Vanguard, the Kusari. He was a friend of yours, right?"

"Yes," she said sadly. She nodded, then cursed inside when she realised Travis could tell she was upset. She coughed and cleared her throat.

"Yes, he..is." she confirmed, her voice more resolute than before.

"I'm sure he's gonna be ok. He's a good pilot. He knows how to take care of himself. Just wanted you to know that everything will work out. Hang in there," he said comfortingly. He smiled then nodded.

"Thanks, Travis. I'll remember that."

The flight to Kurile would be a long one. And a sad one.

(cont'd)


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three

Freeport 9 was a strange yet mysterious place.

It was a huge monolithic structure with several branches away from the central core. The space station was located between dangerous gas clouds and asteroid formations, known as the last bastion of civilised humanity for a long distance in any direction. Each self-contained biodome that connected to the core via huge conduits provided an indefinite supply of food and water.

The Zoners were a strange culture. They tolerated all races, all clans, all allegiances. But they would not tolerate violence of any kind on Freeports throughout Sirius, or in any space within two klicks of a Freeport. They were proud of their neutrality and fiercely defended their independence, assisted by their advanced tech and access to the best civilian Very Heavy Fighter available made them powerful guardians of their home.

Tanya, along with several other members of the Orbital Spa & Cruise company docked several hours ago. They had been given 12 hours R&R, or rest and recuperate. Or 'rock and roll'. Or 'ruck and riot', as some of the more excitable and rowdy pilots suggested. The young pilot had chosen to find a quiet bar, that overlooked the Amarus Gas Cloud. She had seen several Corsair ships take off in that direction and heard rumours that the jump hole to the Corsairs home system, Omicron Gamma lay deep within the cloud.

The bar itself was simple, clean and mostly empty. Just what Tanya needed right now. It was, however, off the 'recommended entertainment area' list but Tanya felt it was sufficiently safe for her to hideaway a couple of hours. An hour before, the pilots were debriefed. A flight of Orbital Spa pilots flew back to the Vanguard position, but found only ruined escape pods, wreckage and the remains of the dead pilots. She almost cried when the wing announced there were no survivors. Tanya took a sip from her drink, Sigma Blue, a refreshing peppermint mixture, then swiftly took another sip from a Hok-Kaido, a drink hailing from Kusari space made from 'lemongrass'; it was Kenji's favourite.

Tanya raised the Hok-Kaido and her own Sigma Bluein a toast.

"To Kenji Akamoto, son of a great man and a great man himself! May you rest in peace," she said softly, then sipped both drinks again.

She put both glasses down on her table and sighed. If Montgomery had let her go back, perhaps she had a chance to save Kenji. Her friend's last communications were troubling Tanya immensely, what new ships had Kenji referred to? Why were they attacking Orbital Spa & Cruise ships? What were these 'purple' weapons? Tanya was curious, but the desire to find answers hadn't outweighed her grief, yet.

While lost in thought, she didn't notice a group of rough-looking men enter the bar. They were speaking in a language she hadn't heard before, yet somehow understood. The words drifted in and out of her consciousness.

Shortly, one of the group, four in all, had approached her booth and put a hand on her table interrupting her thoughts, speaking in rough universal common.

"Hey, senorita. Do I know you? I have not seen you here before. Are you travelling? Sightseeing? Want to experience some of the local..culture?" he asked, his tone was suggestive. The other three men nearby laughed. Tanya looked up at him.

"Sit down," she said smoothly. The men behind him cheered. He looked at them and winked. Tanya looked up at him over the edge of her Sigma Blue, her green eyes, now no more than narrowed slits fixed on his. "How can I help you?" she asked softly, albeit coldly. He leaned in closer.

"I want you. We all want you. We have been following you," he said heavily, leaning back slightly and motioning at the men nearby.

"Oh. That's good to know," she replied, putting the drink down. "And what do you want me for?" she asked, holding to his gaze, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"For..very bad things," he leaned even closer. "We will make you have good time, lady," he smiled revealing broken and discoloured teeth. His breath reeked of alcohol.

A voice sliced into her thoughts, a distant voice. "No fear. No remorse." Tanya paused for a moment as though studying the leering man before her, when suddenly her expression changed. When she next spoke her words became ice.

"No, thanks. I've encountered vent rats with more charisma," she replied. The man's face was frozen in place as though struck, soon the corners of his mouth turned into a sneer.

"You think to stop me and my boys? You have big 'cohones' for a skinny girl," he said through gritted teeth. The veins at his temples began to throb. The group behind him stopped laughing and moved closer to her booth, sensing violence. Tanya glanced around quickly and noticed the other patrons of the bar were moving away from her not so subtly.

"If I had cohones, they would be bigger than yours, amigo," said Tanya and slid out of the booth then taking a step back. Her hands were loose by her sides.

Deep inside, Tanya's inner voice was screaming; _'What are you doing girl? There are four of them, one of you, they are men, they are stronger, you are weaker, how will you beat them?'_ Another voice spoke back calmly; _'Trust your training, believe in yourself. Focus your grief, let go your rage'._

"Well, are you going to just stand there all day?" she challenged. The first man snarled and leapt at her, lust and anger clearly apparent in his eyes.

Both his arms grabbed her by the shoulders, his intent to take her on the booth table, here and now!

She had underestimated his strength, Tanya found herself being pushed back and raised her arms to prevent him from touching her chest, but twisted suddenly pivoting on the heel of her back foot, the momentum of her assailant's charge carried him past her and into the wall. He smashed his face into the unyielding metal, groaned once then turned around painfully.

Tanya noticed he had lost more teeth. He roared and leapt at her again, but this time she stepped in to meet him, ducked under a wild punch and rose swiftly sending her elbow crashing under his chin. Tanya stepped back lithely and swung her other arm around her causing the back of her fist catching the side of his jaw, spinning the man off his feet and into a table. He tried to push himself to his feet, but collapsed back and lay still.

The girl looked at the remaining three men who remained still, the fury in her eyes evident and took a step towards them. The men looked at each other and then charged her together, one tripping over something tumbling to the ground in his haste. She sidestepped quickly and vaulted onto a booth table, lashing out her foot hitting the first in the temple. His head snapped back and the lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

Tanya rolled to her feet and blocked a punch then suddenly found herself pinned to the wall, the man had quickly stepped in and grabbed her arms. She moved her head from side-to-side trying to avoid his lips, then without warning snapped her head forwards, bringing her forehead down onto the bridge of the man's nose who stepped back screaming in pain, bringing his hands up to his face trying to stem the gush of blood. Tanya sent a right hook, then a left cross into his face following-up by grabbing his arm and spinning him into a set of tables where he too lay still. She looked around and found the other man who had tripped earlier, backing away, fear etched on his face.

"I don't want any trouble, lady!" he stammered. "Don't hurt me!"

She stalked towards him, head slightly bowed bearing a vicious expression on her usually serene face.

"Do you want me?" she whispered.

Her right hand came up to her jumpsuit zipper; the fingers slowly closed around it and began to move down. The man's eyes were torn between staring into her eyes and at the ever-increasing sight of her skin, the flush of red at the nape of her neck heading downwards. Tanya stepped closer.

"Whom do you work for?" she asked. The zipper moved lower. The man completely frozen in place couldn't take his eyes off the first signs of her curves.

"Corsairs. I am Corsair," he replied. Tanya was standing so close now, he could smell the scent of her hair, the curves of her breasts so inviting. Suddenly he looked up. Terrified. Her eyes became cold pits.

"I hate Corsairs!" she hissed. "Tell me who hired you and you may live a little longer," she added.

The man was visibly shaking and dare not flee.

"I don't know his name, we usually pick up jobs here at the bar from the Neural Net terminal," the words came out in a rushed stream. "We were supposed to rough you up and take you some place."

"Why?" Tanya demanded, taking a step closer.

"Someone would come and pick you up!" replied the terrified pirate.

"Kidnap me? You wretch!" said Tanya, her voice rising in intensity.

"I swear we were never going to hurt you!" said the man, tears rolled down his cheeks. Tanya took a deep breath and paused. A vision of Kenji flashed into her mind and his familiar voice echoed within her thoughts.

"_May the heavens continue to grant such peace"_

Without warning, Tanya brought the tips of her fingers forwards in a deadly thrust, her long fingers struck his throat like rods of steel collapsing his windpipe and causing massive internal damage. He staggered back, clawing at his neck desperately trying to free the blockage of his own larynx. He fell to his knees moments later, then to his back gasping for air as he slowly suffocated, twitched once. Soon, he lay still.

Tanya breathed deeply, then adjusted her jumpsuit. She searched the pockets of the fallen men withdrawing several credit sticks. She calmly tied her hair back and walked over to the barman, who stepped back uncertain. He was a heavy-set man in his fifties, but in all his space-faring career had never seen anything like this.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked nervously. Tanya placed the four cred-sticks on the bar.

"This should pay for the damage. And I also want information," she said evenly. Her eyes had returned to their natural state, a warm green colour, the frightening killer had now vanished replaced a demure-looking female pilot, much like any other cadet.

"Of course, of course. What do you need?" asked the barman slowly taking the sticks from the bar though keeping a close eye on her.

"I want to buy an Eagle. Fully loaded. And I want to learn the fastest route to Sigma 19 from here."

"Yes. Yes." replied the barman. "I will give you a name. Jorg Sorenson. Talk to him. He can help. You can find him here," the barman scribbled on a scrap of paper. Tanya took it, reading it over, then looked up.

"The biodomes?" she asked confused.

"Yes. Best place to hide space ships," replied barman. "Foliage makes great cover!"

"Your men failed," whispered the man. He watched the young girl walk away from the bar, leaving the carnage behind. Another man stood beside him and shrugged. He was dressed in a jumpsuit similar to the ones worn by Orbital Spa pilots. His red hair shone under the harsh lights.

"So they did. A shame. I paid them a lot to do what I could have done myself," he lit a cigarette, grimacing while his companion snorted in derision.

"You'd be dead like them," came the reply.

"Well they failed. We failed. You know what that means? Our superiors don't take failure well," he replied. Red-head nodded.

"No they don't. That is why I shall blame you." The first man twisted in alarm but it was too late. Red-head fired the gun hidden under his jacket and watched as his companion slid to the ground lifelessly, a hole burnt in his chest, charring flesh and garment together.

He took a few more breaths on his cigarette, then threw it to the ground, then walked in the direction of the biodomes.

Tanya found the biodome written on the paper and shown into another world that lived within the shiny walls of Freeport 9. It was a dark, dangerous underworld where anything could be purchased and sold. Using her family account, she bought an Eagle Very Heavy Fighter and had it equipped with the best money could buy. The ship would be ready in approximately three hours. Enough time for her to get some rest and check the nav route she had paid for.

Returning back to her cabin, she noticed a man waving at her. It was Travis.

"Hi Tanya! Want to go for a drink?" he asked smiling. "This Freeport is huge, have you seen such a thing?"

Tanya walked up to him and beamed a smile back. It was good to meet a friendly face, she thought and considered his offer.

"Sure, sleep can wait!" she laughed. "Let's go somewhere local though, please? I've had enough of the more, rustic dining place today."

"Uh, sure. Whatever you want. Dinner too? I walked by this great place a few levels up. The best in Border Worlds cuisine.."

Tanya laughed again.

"This sounds like you're asking me on a date."

"Well maybe it is," he said, giving her his best charming smile. He extended an arm, which Tanya took hold of. She looked him up and down. Travis wasn't unattractive.

"You know, Travis. You have the most wonderful colour hair, you must tell me what dye you use to get that 'red'!"

Sat in the cockpit of her new fighter, Tanya closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. If Kenji was still alive, and she knew he was, she would find him.

"Kenji, I'm coming for you. Hold on..."

(cont'd)


	4. Chapter 4

Part Four

The diner known as 'La Isla' was located on one of the upper levels of Freeport 9 in the more affluent parts of the space station. It was a very different environment to the dark and threatening lower floors where Tanya was an hour before. Strangely, she felt less comfortable in these surroundings. Everything was so perfect, chrome-plated, brightly lit and beautiful but ultimately, the ultimate in superficial technical perfection

She walked alongside one of her wingmates from the last recon mission, a pilot from Liberty space called Travis Carter. Travis was good company, educated and funny, although a bit raw and incorrigible at times. He was well travelled and clearly knew a lot about Sirius. Tanya was curious how such a man just a few years older than her could gain so much knowledge of trade lanes, jump holes and even the names of some bases she had never heard of but decided against asking too many questions in case he thought she was prying. With Kenji missing in action and still weighing heavily on her mind, Tanya was just glad for the company.

The pair had been walking for over a while. Her earlier 'workout' with the Corsair gang had shaken her slightly as she crashed from the massive burst of adrenaline. Tanya was looking forwards to sitting down somewhere and resting her feet.

"There it is!" said Travis moments later, pointing at the 'La Isla' restaurant. A large dark board with a light-blue neon sign lit up the front wall above the main entrance. Two men stood outside, obviously, but unofficially and probably illegally, armed under their long jackets. They looked mean and tough, surveying the street before them with surly menace, the lights of hover-cars and other stores, bars and lamps reflecting from their mirror shades.

The Sirius Convention signed by the leaders of each Great House when the sector had been colonised many years ago, forbid the use of personal sidearms that could cause hull breaches on stations or commercial spacecraft. Tanya knew that ninety-percent of the sidearms carried these days were all capable of such damage, and more. Such a ruling was impossible to enforce.

The general rule of thumb was, "Better to have a weapon and not need it, than need it and not have a weapon."

Travis strode up to the main door after pushing his way past a growing queue. If the door guards recognised him, they barely acknowledged him, although Tanya was sure she noticed one of the men give an almost imperceptible nod. She quickly followed him inside and the door hissed behind her, almost shutting out the bustling street noise they left behind.

They both stood in a dark ante-chamber and she nearly started when a pair of sensors dropped from a concealed hatch in the ceiling. Music piped through from beyond a plain door before them and Travis paused for a moment, listening to the soft, lilting melody accompanied by various harmonies. He was nodding his head in time with the rhythm. Tanya had heard this sort of music before when she trained at Cambridge a couple of years ago; it was known as 'jazz', a 20th century musical development that apparently took great skill to master. The sensors hovered down to the ground, then back up to the ceiling over a few heartbeats, scanning them both.

A metallic voice announced:

"_No hull-breach capable weaponry detected. Have a nice evening."_

The sensors hissed back into their dark recesses and soon afterwards the doors opened.

She relaxed a little, smiled and allowed herself to be ushered in by Travis.

"So tell me, what is Bretonia like?" asked Travis. He poured more Amarus Wine into Tanya's half-empty glass. She nodded her thanks. "I have been as far as Cortez but the Corsairs are an unfriendly bunch!"

Tanya winced slightly at the sound of her now most hated enemy.

"Bretonia is beautiful. If you see the auroras that border the galactic north-east of Manchester, the shimmering colours so bright, you'd fall in love with the sight very quickly," sighed the girl. Travis was staring at her, his brown eyes fixed on her own studying the strange expression her face now adopted.

"Yes. I can imagine what that sight is like," he said without taking his eyes off her with some feeling. Tanya flushed, then smiled and looked around at the restaurant's interior trying to think of a way to change the subject.

Decoratively, the 'jazz club' was modern, yet quite old-fashioned. The architect had clearly envisioned some ancient culture and attempted to articulate that here, with the lush overhanging drapes, inviting couches and low tables with dim lanterns atop them. Tanya was completely absorbed with the band on the stage. They were playing such complicated yet beautiful music and all without the use of today's technology. She found it hard to concentrate on dining and drinking as well as talking to Travis. Tanya blinked and decided it was a little rude to ignore her companion for much longer.

The musicians ended their song with a flourish and the crowd applauded, Tanya joined in unabashed.

"So tell me about Texas, Travis," inquired Tanya breathlessly.

"Home of the Bounty Hunters," said her companion without looking up from his meal. Travis was chewing noisily on a rather large mouthful of braised beef steak and already sawing into the meat ready for the next chunk. He didn't notice Tanya's eyes glaze at the mention of the feared group of independent mercenaries known for their ferocity in combat as well as infamous beginnings; most Bounty Hunter's are ex-criminal gang members, that in rare cases are captured rather than destroyed and given a choice of join or die. For many, the decision is easy.

A flash of light struck Tanya behind the eyes again and a powerful, intense headache enveloped her head, forcing her eyes shut.

_"What are you here to do?" said a voice shrouded in dark shadow. "Who do you work for?"_

_Tanya jerked her head to one side, as though reeling from a blow. She glared defiantly up at her assailant, the feeling of momentary panic as she realised her arms were bound to a chair quelled savagely as she fought to analyse her surroundings. A heavy hand struck her again on the cheek and she felt a trickle of blood make its way down the side of her mouth to her chin._

"_Tanya. It says here you signed under the name of Tanya. I'll ask one more time, the next time won't be as gentle," said the gravely, male voice. She was sure he was smirking, though the white light being shone into her eyes almost blinded her. She heard someone move from behind, so there were two people in the room. "Tanya. What is your business here? What are you trying to do? Tanya? Tanya!"_

"Tanya? Tanya!"

"Tanya!" said Travis shaking the girl by the shoulder. "You ok? You went blank on me for a minute," he looked worried. Tanya blinked.

"I'm ok. I just get these headaches. They're hard to manage sometimes," she took a long sip from her glass, then returned to her meal. Tanya noticed her lip was cut; perhaps she had bitten it during her vision. She took the napkin from her lap and dabbed at the lip for a while until the cut stopped bleeding. Travis sat there watching in silence for a few minutes, chewing on his own food thoughtfully.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked eventually. Tanya hesitated, then her shoulders slumped slightly, as though she was infinitely tired and carrying a burden far too great for her age.

"Well, I keep hearing..voices. See things. People. It's confusing. Sometimes I feel that I don't know who I am anymore," Tanya looked up, then down, then back at Travis. "I know things I shouldn't. Do things I didn't know I could do. So confusing," she repeated and internally scolded herself for being so emotional and quickly rubbed at her eyes with a napkin.

Travis tried to look comforting but only ended up looking like a newborn lamb who's chin was dipped in gravy.

"What do these voices say to you? About whom? Go somewhere? Do something?" he asked, frowning as Tanya attempted to stifle a chuckle, unsuccessfully and wiped his chin swiftly.

Tanya thought for a while and her expression hardened.

"I don't know. I feel like I have a mission to complete, or maybe a quest, but I don't know what it is," Tanya realised her glass was empty but before she could refill it herself, Travis shook his head and filled her glass full emptying the remnants of the wine bottle. A passing waiter expertly swept it up. A few moments later another bottle was set down on their table. Tanya and Travis sat watching the band return to the stage and begin tuning-up for another song

"You must remember something. Anything," pressed Travis, waiting impatiently for the waiter, who was lingering in case the couple wanted to order something else, to walk away. When he eventually did, Travis spoke again. "Maybe, these orders were specific. Or something horrible, like assassinating some poor sod. Recover something. Or perhaps something even more terrible," he laughed.

Tanya shrugged but watched him closely for a few more heartbeats than she normally would. Something had changed in his speech. He seemed, intense, although he had feigned joviality at the end. Perhaps he was hiding something.

"I am no murderer," she said firmly, looking straight at him, her green eyes cold and piercing. He laughed, to no-one in particular, looked up and saw the icy chill glare and cast his eyes downwards again to his plate quickly.

A voice whispered in her mind echoed the same word over and over; 'Murderer'. Her instincts told her something wasn't right, she put down her glass and stood up. Travis stood up too, his expression neutral.

"I have to use the restroom. Bio. I'll be right back," she said smiling too. Travis nodded, but the movement was edgy. He took her hand and kissed it, Tanya did well not to flinch from the contact.

"Sure. You bet. I'll be right here. Don't be too long or your dessert will go missing!" he laughed.

She waved and walked away towards the direction of the female restrooms. She increased her pace and noticed out the corner of her eye a couple of men at the bar watching her. Perhaps they were just curious, or something more sinister, perhaps? She would have thought nothing of it, but noticed another pair of men sitting in a booth near the stage. They were talking, but not looking at each other, instead their eyes were focused on her too.

Something was up.

Just before Tanya reached the door to the restroom, a waiter walked over to her.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you a pilot with Orbital Spa & Cruise?" he asked. He was carrying a silver tray with a note on it.

"Yes," said Tanya. "Can I help you?"

"Is your name Tanya? Tanya Williams?" Tanya glanced around for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes. What's the matter?"

"I have a message for you," replied the waiter and presented the tray with the note. She took the note and the waiter walked away back to the bar.

The message read:

_Tanya, I hope you are safe. You are in great danger. We were ambushed. Someone is trying to kill you. Leave Freeport 9 ASAP and head to Omega-41. I will meet you at Freeport 5. Kenji_

'Kenji!' thought Tanya, almost saying his name aloud. How did he know where she was? She rushed to the restroom, splashed water on her face and thought quickly. She had to get out. And be back within eight hours. That was when the Orbital Spa group planned to return to the Hawaii. And what to make of Travis? Tanya didn't feel he could be trusted. She would have to distract him and then make her exit quickly. Tanya looked at her watch, thirty minutes before her Eagle would be ready. It would take just as long to reach the hangar. Her mind was racing.

The door opened and her eyes narrowed, a group of women walked into the restroom chatting animatedly.

Tanya's eyes brightened.

"Excuse me? May I interrupt?" she asked, beaming a smile.

Outside, unseen by Tanya, her companion Travis nodded at the two pairs of men seated elsewhere in the bar. He'd taken a long route to reach the diner, by which time his men had set themselves up at various points, preventing any possible escape. He almost balked at the idea of having to kill the girl. She was extremely attractive. Beautiful, in fact. One in a million, he decided. A real waste of Sirian resources. Maybe he could 'borrow' her for a while before taking her back to LPI.

"Oh well, a job is a job," he murmured to himself. Travis reached under their table and after a few seconds of feeling around closed his hand around the hilt of a gun. He tugged it free and still keeping his hands hidden out of view, primed the blaster and set the charge for a maximum stun. He watched several people walk in and out of the restroom corridor and was getting impatient. What was taking Tanya so long? After ten minutes, he nodded to one of the men at the bar. He got up and walked over to the restroom corridor, disappearing inside. A few moments later he ran back out into view.

"She's gone!" he shouted into his comm. Travis' eardrum nearly burst. "There's no-one in here!"

Travis swore and rose to his feet, then ran to the ladies' restroom. He barged aside a few hapless diners and shoved the door open pulling his sidearm ready.

It was silent, except for the sound of a dripping tap. Travis aimed the blaster at the man he sent first to investigate, who quickly raised his hands.

Travis walked up to each cubicle pushing the door of each one open. Nothing.

"Damn! Find her! She can't have got far!" Travis cursed inwardly. He could hear his men rushing around the diner and outside searching for her. How did this happen? He cast his mind back, trying to remember the events previously and ran back out into the diner. Precious minutes were being wasted.

Travis ran back into the restroom again, his eyes suddenly growing cold and smashed a mirror with the butt of his gun. Fragments of the reflective surface fell to the floor, a particularly large piece fell near to his feet. He glanced down, and growled.

The man reached under the sink and found something that had been stuffed underneath one of the sinks and wrapped around a pipe. He pulled it out. It was a jumpsuit.

Tanya's jumpsuit.

Breathing hard, Tanya ran at full speed along the corridors rushing past curious onlookers towards the main hangars pausing only when her lungs burned in protest.

She ducked into a dark alley between two stores and hid herself within the recess of a fire exit, then tore off the wide-brimmed hat from her head, throwing it to the ground and pulled the knot of hair that was under it free, allowing her long, blonde tresses to fall about her shoulders.

She recalled the moment she escaped. Tanya asked the group of girls who had entered the restroom if she could borrow some clothes to avoid an incredibly obnoxious date. The girls sympathised and happily obliged offering several items of clothing that Tanya had gratefully put on in place of her single-piece jumpsuit. They offered to walk out together placing her in the middle. Luckily, Tanya wasn't particularly tall or short and the crude disguise worked.

Having recovered her breath, she stepped out from the recess and walked briskly to the hangar.

Ten minutes later, Tanya was strapped into the cockpit of her Eagle. The powerful Very Heavy Fighter was equipped with the latest Zoner technology. Her top-of-the-range weapon systems included the latest Fury3 photon cannons, a Cannonball missile launcher and Advanced Debilitator pulse laser completed the load-out, along with a full complement of mines and countermeasures. A grateful Tanya thanked the maintenance engineers and requested permission to leave the station.

"Freelancer, Alpha, T, Zero-Four-Five. You are cleared for take-off. Good luck out there," announced Docking Control.

Tanya checked her navigation map. It was a short flight galactic west of Freeport 9, to an asteroid field. Then through a jump hole to Omega-41. It wouldn't be long before she would see Kenji again, and they could all travel back home.

"Has she taken off?" asked Travis. He was watching the nav map displayed on a HUD in his ship.

"Yes," came the reply with slight static interference.

"Good. Have our ships rendezvous at the designated co-ordinates. The girl should be almost there by now. I think our little ruse has worked. Tell our local Bounty Hunter contacts that a wanted felon is on the run and travelling through the area. I'm transmitting her picture and ID signature now." Travis pressed a button and a beep indicated successful transmission.

"Tanya Ramirez? She's an Outcast assassin? You sure about this, Carter?" asked the man on the comms incredulously. "These Outcasts are a dangerous bunch. Even if your plan succeeds in isolating her from the other Orbital Spa pilots, they are capable pilots on their own."

"I know what I'm doing. I've been tracking her group of killers for nine months now. She's the last one left. And I'm taking her down. That million credit bounty is all mine."

Their dialogue paused for a moment.

" You sure we have the right person?"

Travis considered this.

"No doubt. She is the right target. Except, she may have forgotten who she is. God only knows what they did to her on Cambridge. Get moving. I'll see you space."

(cont'd)


	5. Chapter 5

Part Five

Tanya's new Eagle was a joy to fly.

Although the message from Kenji was urgent, she couldn't resist doing a few practice manoeuvres around Freeport 9 to become more familiar with her new ship. Although the Banshee was classed as a light fighter and technically more agile, Tanya concluded the Eagle's turn rate was actually superior. Satisfied she knew the limits of her recent acquisition, the young woman engaged the cruise engines and set a course for the Omega-41 jump hole.

"Nap time," she said to herself. It would be an hour before she reached the hole and Tanya decided she needed the rest. The gentle humming of her ship's engine helped sleep come, and with sleep came the dreams once again.

A wing of Hammerheads, the chosen ship of ace Bounty Hunters, was following her at a safe seven klicks.

_'It would not be long now,'_ thought Travis. The jump hole to Omega-41 was close.

The Eagle's sensors went dead. Tanya woke up with a start and started pushing buttons trying to bring her sensors back on-line. It was no use, the ship seemed to be devoid of all power except life support.

"Damn, how long was I asleep for?" she asked herself out loud.

The jump hole was close by, yet her Eagle did not go through it on autopilot like she had programmed back on Freeport 9. A movement caught her eye and glancing around her ship to her dismay, there were at least half a dozen Very Heavy Fighters and two gunboats surrounding her. Without sensors, power and shields, she was dead.

Her comms crackled into life.

"Tanya Ramirez. You are under arrest. We are members of the Bounty Hunters Guild and our orders are to bring you in, dead or alive. Your ship is crippled. Do not resist or you will be vaporised. If you agree to our terms, eject your escape pod from the ship now and prepare to be tractored."

Tanya wanted to fight but she knew she had no chance. Angrily, she stabbed the button to eject with her finger and was thrust back into her seat from the rapid acceleration. Her pod sailed two hundred metres away from her Eagle, which was then vaporised by the Bounty Hunter weapons. Her pod was tractored in by a gunboat.

"I haven't done anything wrong!" she said. "What's going on? My name is Tanya Williams."

"Be still. There's nothing you can do," said the cold voice again. It was one she recognised. "The gas should take effect quickly. It is painless."

Tanya heard the hissing of some kind of gas being piped through her life support.

"Travis, is that you?"

Silence was the reply.

Tanya sniffed and could tell the anaesthetic gas was already through. It would not be long now before she lost consciousness, her eyes began to close.

She fell into dark oblivion.

Tanya opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus on her surroundings. She was in a room, the gunmetal walls clean and sharp; a single-door was situated ahead of her. The girl tried to get up but realised her wrists were bound to the bed she lay on; the simple gown around her slender frame was plain and unadorned. Tanya looked down and saw her ankles had been secured too.

"Where am I?" she wondered.

She remembered her name and tried to recall how she came to be in the room. Her memory was hazy, a blur. Voices. Williams. Her name was Williams. _Why was she here?_

Tanya began to wrestle with the bindings, but soon realised they were made of plas-steel and would need an industrial strength cutter.

The door handle began to turn, Tanya lay back and closed her eyes pretending to be asleep. She heard a trolley being wheeled in, glasses clinking, a strange smell, voices, and footsteps.

"Now, doctor. You must be sure she will react properly this time. There can be no mistakes," said a cultured male voice. It was Bretonian without doubt and resonated with authority. A middle-aged man, thought Tanya.

"Yes, yes. We have increased the dosage. The girl will tell us all we wish to know," said another man, this one clearly Kusari as the oriental accent was clear. An older man than the first, he was nervous, detected Tanya. She relaxed breathing slowly and evenly, trying to give the impression of deep sleep.

"She has told us nothing of import so far, doctor. Only what we know already. Our contacts are losing patience. We have not come this far to jeopardise the whole project. We must learn why she failed. Has she been turned? Who knows of our existence? The worst-case scenario could be a very dangerous one indeed. For all of us." There was no mistaking the threat.

"Well, General. If your people had given us," began the 'doctor' but changed tack under his associates withering stare, "if we had sufficient time with the other candidates, we would not need to exert so much pressure on her. You realise she is the last of her kind? At least of the one's who survived the programme. You know as I do, the others were a considerable failure."

_What did they mean?_ thought Tanya, her heart rate accelerated slightly but she immediately suppressed the emotion.

The men paused, lost in their own thoughts.

"She is our last hope. We must find out what happened in the Sigma systems and prepare the appropriate responses. The information this girl possesses is the last key to a gate with hundreds of locks. She can tell us where-" before the Bretonian could finish, a loud alarm klaxon reverberated throughout the room and adjacent corridor. Tanya heard a rush of movement from beyond the door.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded the Bretonian. "You! Wait here and finish the job. Use whatever it takes to get what we need. I will return shortly," the man ran to the door, opened it, Tanya heard voices again, this time agitated, then the door closed, leaving the dampened noise of the alarm throbbing inside her room.

The Kusari doctor moved to the trolley. Tanya took this opportunity to open her eyes; he was in his mid-fifties, greying hair at his temples. He had a kind face and wore a mournful expression, something Tanya did not expect to see. He reminded her of someone. A teacher?

She looked at the trolley and her eyes widened. A huge array of needle-guns, tubes, vials full of odd-coloured liquids, pincers, tweezers, clamps and saws were spread over the various shelves. A monitor was connected via an adjustable arm to the trolley and a series of cables now connected the monitor to her bed. She grimaced when she realised her bindings were not just bindings, they were life sign readers. Tanya was not surprised at what happened next.

"You may sit up now, my dear," said the doctor evenly. "Your heart rate and respiration levels were fairly buoyant throughout my conversation with the General. I assume you heard everything we spoke of?" The doctor turned around and looked directly at her.

Tanya raised her head up slightly. She felt extremely vulnerable in her present state, not only was her gown quite light in material, there was no way she could move to defend herself either. The girl looked at the doctor defiantly.

"Why didn't you say anything if you knew I was awake?" she asked. "Do you pretend to be an ally?" The doctor turned back to the trolley and continued with setting up his equipment, with Tanya's jade green eyes watching his every move.

"You are a special person, Miss Ramirez," said the doctor continuing with his preparations. Tanya looked confused. Ramirez? Why did he call her by that name? She bit her lip and remained silent. "You have been bred, trained and conditioned for two things, survival and the destruction of others ordained by your superiors." He looked at her again. "You are a killer, my girl. An assassin. Be it personal combat, gunnery, political subversion or zero-g aerial combat." The doctor placed a dangerous looking instrument down on the table, and knelt down to retrieve something from a lower shelf. As he kneeled, Tanya saw a set of keys attached to his belt.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered. "I'm just a student. At Cambridge Research Station. My parents are from New London. I was a cadet at West Point," the words came out in a stream. "I was on a routine training mission to Omicron Theta."

"All a very elaborate cover, Tanya. You are not that person at all. You are, no one. A murderer. One of several highly trained specialists. The last actually, given all of your colleagues are now dead or in a vegetative state. We have our Bounty Hunters to thank for that, though. They are rather thorough."

Tanya frowned as she thought of Travis. Then she blanched, an assassin? Ridiculous. To kill someone in cold-blood? The thought was completely alien. Then she remembered her deadly encounter with the Corsairs on Freeport 9. Perhaps it was not so alien, after all.

"Your mind was given a synaptic overlay, an artificial projection of a fabricated life imprinted on your consciousness. It would aid you with any interviews, questioning. If you felt your memories were real, you would stand a much better chance of staying unidentified and anonymous. Ingenious really, I must admit. I didn't think such technology was possible," said the doctor. "Not that it matters. Someone has killed everyone involved with the project. Except myself, of course."

Tanya began to flex her arm muscles, testing the strength of the bindings. They wouldn't budge.

"Why were we trained in this way?" she asked. The doctor looked at her again, then cast his eyes down at his instruments.

"To kill of course. Not randomly like a psychopath. To kill on command," he stated.

"whose command? Yours?"

The doctor looked aghast.

"Of course not. I have no such authority. The Great Houses and leaders of our esteemed part of the galaxy. Shall I name names? President Jacobi, The Great Sun Emperor of Kusari.."

"No," she whispered. _The leaders of civilised humanity in Sirius would order such a thing?_

"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly, reading her thoughts. "You, and others like you were deployed as stealth killing machines. We could send drones or robots, but nothing has the inventiveness or creative depth a human does. Your orders were to infiltrate all of the great criminal organisations that currently plague Sirius; the Corsairs, Outcasts, Red Hessians, Gaians, Golden C, Unioners, Rogues, and many more. You were assigned to monitor the Outcasts specifically. Your mission was to slay Don Miguel, the last surviving leader of an ancient family. The strategy was impressive. You took the place of a known Outcast raider. You adopted her name. You had surgery on your face so you would resemble her, though thankfully that has since been reversed in your time back here, your natural features restored, though the full impact of the reversal surgery will not manifest for a few weeks yet. You caught her yourself. You tortured her for everything she knew about the Outcasts. Then you killed her and took her place."

The doctor watched Tanya's reaction. The girl hadn't moved. Her face paled.

"You returned to Omicron Alpha with the intent of killing Don Miguel. You discovered his family home. You killed several key Outcast leaders for us while gathering information. You did several missions to ingratiate yourself with the Outcast leaders and eventually, you were standing before the Don. Your concealed blaster should have done the job, and left the Outcasts leaderless. Yet somehow you failed. All this painful preparation, and you failed at the last. Why? What stopped you?"

Tanya blinked. Flashes of light appeared in her eyes. She saw visions of a man, a handsome, beautiful man with dark hair and deep brown eyes. They had kissed. They made love. The grey uniformed man from the Hawaii! The Don's son! He was at the meeting too. She fired the gun killing the old man, then turned it on everyone else in the room. Finally, he was left. Only him. She hesitated. She could not kill her lover. She failed. She went 'off-the-wire'. The mission was aborted. The son must have become the new Don and the line continued.

"You remember," whispered the doctor. "What happened? What happened afterwards? Where did you go? What did you do? New Berlin. Do you remember what you were doing in New Berlin?"

"New Berlin? What are..are you talking about?" asked Tanya confused. "I failed. Juan. I loved him. I couldn't.." The doctor looked on sadly.

"What should a killer know of love?" he asked ruefully.

Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the station. The doctor held on to the trolley to steady himself. Another one soon followed. The Bretonian man burst back into the room.

"We are under attack! The station is under attack!" he said eyes wide in fear. Then he noticed Tanya was sitting up awake. "Why is she awake?" he said pointing a finger at her, his expression turning cold and bleak. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him with some finality. "What have you said, doctor? It's over. We're compromised. If the forces attacking us are who I think they were, the whole station is under threat of total destruction!"

The Bretonian walked over to Tanya's bed, his eyes chilled her blood.

"She is a liability. If she tells anyone of her origins it could mean the end of Sirius," he rolled up his sleeves and moved even closer.

"You don't have to do this," said Tanya. She struggled at her bonds again vainly. "I don't want to kill anymore. I just want to-"

"To go home?" sneered the Bretonian. "You have no home. You don't exist. You have no family, at least not anymore. No money. No future," he replied. "No life."

Tanya's scream when he placed his hands around her throat became a pinched gurgle as he began to squeeze. His eyes were cold pits, he looked over her body drinking in the sight of her and keeping one hand in an iron grip that was closing in deadly fashion, began to move his free hand over her shoulders and lower.

"No, please, stop." she whispered, as her eyes began to roll up into their sockets. The man's face was twisted into a terrifying grimace. "Please, I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm not your enemy," Tanya whispered again. She was losing her energy. Flashes of light erupted behind her eyes again. Tanya arched her back up in a death throe. All she could feel was a vice around her neck. And then the pressure was gone. She sucked in a huge gulp of air painfully and slowly brought her vision into focus.

The Bretonian staggered, then turned around slowly, pointing a finger at the doctor. As he turned, Tanya noticed a needle protruding behind his neck where the base of the skull met the spine. He tried to reach up and take it out, but sank to his knees, knocking over the trolley and falling over it. The Bretonian drew a gun from a holster under his jacket and frozen in fear, the doctor stood still moments before a single shot was fired and hammered into his chest. The doctor fell to his knees just as the Bretonian fell forwards onto his face and collapsed to the ground. Tanya watched aghast as the Bretonian's legs twitched and finally lay still, his eyes staring into nothing.

"May the Emperor forgive me. We have seen enough death," prayed the doctor as he crawled painfully to Tanya's bed. He left a bloody trail that seemed to pool behind him.

After several painful seconds, the old Kusari man reached Tanya and using the key at his belt unlocked the clasps that held her left hand in place. Tanya reached down with the free hand and swept the keys up, unlocking her other hand and ankles quickly. Finally, she sat up and gulped for air, sucking in deep breaths. She gingerly prodded the swollen flesh around her neck knowing it would bruise for weeks.

The doctor had tears in his eyes.

"I am sorry, my child. You were the best of them all, the most talented, so beautiful, and so much potential. We turned you into a monster. Go. Flee while you can. Take this," he handed his ID card and a second item that looked like the entry controller to a ship of some kind. "Go to the hangar. You will find a Hawk in my name. It is nothing special, but it will get you away from here. Go where you will. Live your life anew. Find love again. Do not dig into your past. You will find only horror and despair."

Tanya nodded and got to her feet. She grabbed the dead Bretonian's body and took his jacket from him, searching the pockets. She found some money and a datadisc. She pocketed both and hurried to a nearby wardrobe where she found a pair of light shoes and what looked like a nurses outfit, then without worrying about the doctor, she pulled off her gown and, ignoring the various bruises on her body, put on the uniform and shoes and walked towards the door. She turned just as she reached it.

"Thank you," she said. "For everything. You are right, doctor. I am not the person I was, or what you created me to be. I am someone else now. I don't want to kill, although I am not afraid of killing if it's necessary. Good luck." Tanya opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, her instincts guiding her to her escape.

The doctor watched her walk away and smiled satisfied, the pool of blood around his body swelling no more.

Tanya made her way to the hangar, but found all the ships remaining were guarded. More explosions had rocked the station, she could hear the hull groaning under it's own weight, the station would collapse on itself and implode soon. Fortunately, there was only one Hawk in the hangar. The doctor's ship was at the far side of the cavernous bay. There were a dozen guards, engineers and pilots between her and the ship. Tanya looked around searching for a distraction.

The girl stood up suddenly and yelled across the hangar deck. Simple sometimes is the most effective, she decided.

"Hey! Guys, I need some help with a wounded man over here!" she waved across at a group of guards, two of whom came over.

She led them behind a stack of crates and supplies, checking no one was able to see them. Tanya reached down to pick something up, bending over so the hem of her uniform rode up revealing her shapely legs.

"Hurry, miss, or we'll miss the next flight out" said one guard glancing at his companion. They couldn't take their eyes off her, although it was a minor distraction considering the state of the station. "So where's this wounded guy?" he asked.

"Right here!" said Tanya pleasantly

She span round holding a large spanner that crashed into the side of a guard's head. Blood spurted from the wound and she heard a loud crack. Tanya couldn't worry if it was a killing blow, not that it would matter soon, and the station would be dust within minutes. The other guard brought his rifle up but she lashed out with her foot catching his trigger fingers, breaking several. He yelped in pain then staggered back under a fierce flurry of blows to his face followed up by another crunching swing with the heavy spanner, where he span into a crate then slid to the floor unmoving. Tanya stripped him as quickly as she could; swearing when she discovered both guards had even smaller feet than her. The slippers would have to go with the jumpsuit.

Minutes later, the girl strode across the deck towards the Hawk. She saluted at several guards who nodded, then looked at each other confused. Tanya was twenty feet away from the ship's cockpit ladder.

"Hey you! Stop! ID now!" shouted one of the guards. Tanya ignored him. "Hey! Stop or I open fire!"

She broke into a run, dodging left and right, praying the explosions would keep the guard off-balance. She had guessed right as the shooter missed her constantly and a few blasts later, an explosion ripped through the hangar, causing a gantry to collapse destroying half of the main deck. Unfortunately for the shooting guard he was in the wrong half.

Tanya climbed up the boarding ladder and leapt into the cockpit, wincing as she felt a muscle tear in her thigh and possibly her shoulder. She punched the ignition buttons and pulled down on the cockpit trying to close it quicker than the hydraulic mechanism was timed for, shoving the ladder away from the craft with a mighty push.

"Come on, come on!" she urged.

"All systems on-line. Autopilot engaged. Awaiting clearance for take-off,' announced the ship computer.

"Forget that!" said Tanya and turned on manual piloting. She wrestled with the controls as the hangar blew up around her, aimed the Hawk's Suncannons at the hangar doors and opened fire tearing a huge hole into space. An instant later, a tremendous vacuum began sucking out the contents of the ruined hangar and the Hawk was dragged out into space. The girl set her thrusters to maximum and dumped all her countermeasures as soon as she exited the hangar, then engaged her cruise engines. Ship sensors indicated at least four Very Heavy Fighters nearby, Sabres. Outcast ships. She remembered them now.

"Mission Accomplished, that Large Space Station is history," said a voice over the general comms. The space station blew up behind her, a huge shockwave spiralling out like a wave of flame and cloud.

She stayed silent, praying the explosion of the station would provide enough cover for her to escape undetected.

Ten klicks later, she was satisfied she had gained enough distance, cut her engines and checked her nav map. Tau-31. Very, very far from Omicron Theta.

She would have to make her way back. The doctor mentioned New Berlin. The enormity of what the doctor had told her was only just beginning to work its way into her mind._ A House system assassin?_ It beggared belief.

Setting a course for New Berlin, Tanya smiled as she remembered her great Kusari friend. She still had to find Kenji.

"If you are alive, I will find you," she whispered.

Tanya loaded the datadisc she took from the dead Bretonian's jacket into her console. Detailed information about her was on it, physical measurements, behaviour patterns, and movement projections. This was the information sent to the Bounty Hunter Guild to assist with her capture.

Her green eyes darkened for a moment, then returned back to their natural state, the coldness gone but replaced now with a steely resolve. Tanya had to piece back her life, but would need to start at the only living link she knew.

"Travis Carter," she hissed.

The Hawk's engines erupted into life, her ship was swallowed up by the night and the stars blinked in unison.

(cont'd)


	6. Chapter 6

Tau 23 system, Border Worlds space

Three Bretonia Mining & Manufacturing (BMM) Hawk light fighters were on patrol through the galactic east Beryllium field, their chassis similar to the predatory bird-of-prey lending an element of grace and danger as the ships glided and dipped between rock formations. The ships reached one waypoint, slowed their engines to a crawl, then engaged them again as they turned to face a new direction. Moments later the ships had disappeared into the field, golden trails fading into the distance.

Somewhere hidden in the dense field lay an Outcast base, the main source of problems for the Bretonian corporation and their main competitors, the Independent Miners Guild (IMG). Rumours of a new Outcast very heavy fighter known as the 'Sabre' were circulating at the BMM-owned, Tau 31 Gate Construction Site. Patrols had been stepped up and the results were varied; either the ships came back with nothing to report, or they didn't come back at all.

A month ago, an IMG Large Space Station had been destroyed in Tau 37 with all three hundred hands lost. The tragic event caused major changes in the Guild, the members clamouring for better protection, insurance against attacks and of course, a bounty to be placed on the culprits. A large number of Bounty Hunters were hired to both bolster the defences in Tau 37 and neighbouring systems as well as increase the number of 'search and destroy' raids on Outcast installations and convoys, to no avail. The Outcasts were persistent and always deadly. It was as though the cartel was making a statement: "Do not trespass in our space".

Travis Carter was one such Bounty Hunter. He'd been in the Tau systems for two months since his last assignment that took him from LPI Sugarland, to Sigma 19, then to Omicron Theta, then to Omega-41. The redheaded pilot had been a Hunter for over ten years, his boyish good looks often made him appear much younger than the experienced veteran he was. Travis took advantage of this whenever he could.

The Hunter didn't consider himself an evil man, just one who did the job no matter what the cost. 'Brutal', some softer members of his trade had called him. Travis preferred pragmatic. His last job was probably his toughest, most rewarding yet also the most troubling. Travis was approached by an unknown source to track down a member of a mercenary group. He never asked many questions, in fact, this mission was ideal, no questions, hunt and bring in, dead or alive. Yet, he found that with each success, or the death of his target, it led to another member, and another, and another. By the fifth member, he asked how many there were. Nine came the reply; six men and three women.

His last assignment was the most difficult and not because she was a hard target, but because he couldn't find it in himself to set up the ambush and deal with her. Travis was particular about his methods; he would build a profile of his target, habits, preferred travel routes, stop-off locations, behaviours, allies, and enemies. If his client weren't fussy about how or when, it would cost less but be more public. Travis was a specialist in covert 'retrievals'. Most of the time his contracts were of the latter type, something he had built a reputation for.

It was for this reason that Travis took longer than normal to set up the trap. Even his regular team of hired mercenaries had noticed the delay. Over the last nine months they had tracked down eight members of the 'gang', yet the last target was still at large. When questioned about their lack of movement they were stonewalled. Travis said it was 'need-to-know'. The truth was, Travis was beginning to fall for the girl; Tanya Williams, aka Tanya Ramirez, Outcast assassin and wanted felon for the murder of a dozen House diplomats and military personnel. Her dossier read she was an unbalanced, remorseless and cold-blooded brutal killer; an unfriendly sociopath who took pleasure from the torture of her victims before killing them in the most inhumane way possible. Travis enjoyed missions like this, he would be doing Sirius a favour, just one more scumbag to add the list.

Strange then that after a month of tracking her movements, joining her circle of Orbital Spa & Cruise pilots, he discovered Tanya was nothing like her dossier. In fact, she was the total opposite, a warm, generous, cheerful person who clearly wore her heart on her sleeve. The beautiful young woman, twenty-three on the file, was like a ray of sunshine wherever she went. Only one thing on the file was accurate; she was an extremely skilled pilot. Travis had been paying a contact on the inside of Orbital Spa to ensure they were in the same wing as often as possible, he noted she was an extremely good shot, knew her weapons and always pushed the envelope with her ships. It was for this reason alone he continued with the contract as Tanya didn't fit the remainder of the profile at all.

When he challenged his client, he received more answers and information than he needed, or wanted to know. Apparently, Tanya was the last remaining member of a black ops, House assassin squad. Genetically programmed and highly trained to be the best in her business. The kills his client told him of were for real, but her alignment was clearly not Outcast. He was told, under no uncertain circumstances, she was a time bomb waiting to go off, her 'mental conditioning' was in a state of flux and Tanya needed further treatment. The alternative was death, there was no way the Houses would let such a dangerous uncontrollable weapon exist.

So Travis did as ordered. He studied Tanya's behaviours and contacts until a clear weakness presented itself, Kenji Nakamura, the son of a famous Kusari Bounty Hunter clan based at Deshima Station, close to Planet Junyo in the Shikoku system. The pair had a very close relationship, built slowly over the course of a year due to intense training. Travis felt the pang of jealousy occasionally, he wasn't able to get too close to Tanya but always maintained a presence to observe. In any case, Kenji was the key to a flawless strategy.

Using a Corsair informant, he first spread the rumour that a large cargo of Pharmaceuticals would be escorted from Luxury Liner Hawaii to Freeport 9, of course, the Vanguard would need to be taken care of. Travis smiled as he recalled the conversation with the Corsair man. He emphasised that the Kusari should be spared if possible. In any case, with Kenji now off the map, a simple message to Tanya would be enough to lure her where she would be vulnerable. Travis had tried other means first, a space battle would be risky and his client had requested her alive first, dead second. He first paid for a loose gang of Corsairs to rough her up and bring her to his ship. They failed spectacularly, Tanya's deadly skills proving his client was at least partly right. Travis then 'bumped' into Tanya, and given recent events knew she would welcome the change of scenery.

His team were already in place by the time they reached the diner, yet somehow she managed to elude them again, purchasing a ship and leaving the station.

Still, the message proved most successful and was always the main plan. Lured into open space and tired, Tanya flew on auto until it reached the jump hole to Omega 41 where a series of cruise disruptors disabled her engines and sheer numbers forced her to eject. Travis flew her in stasis to Omega 41 and unloaded her at an unmarked station. He was paid. He left. The rest was history.

Travis sighed when he thought of Tanya, her bright eyes and energy always made his heart leap.

Stuck out in Tau space with a group of four green rookie Hunters made him wish he was back on the Hawaii, with her.

Being an experienced veteran he was asked politely by BMM to take out a group of youngsters on a training mission, a routine patrol with limited chance of an encounter. Travis always assumed an encounter was possible.

"So Travis, what do you make of all the attacks by the Outcasts? Think they're after something? I can't wait to take a shot at one," said one enthusiastic youngster. Travis was even-handed with his reply, though he would have preferred to blow him out of the cosmos instead.

"Kid, take it easy. The last thing you ask for is to be in combat at all, let alone with the Outcasts."

"But Travis, surely that's what we do? We hunt people? Kill them?" continued the lad. Travis sighed.

"Not everything we do results with death," he lied. Death was the ultimate goal. "Sometimes you're asked to do a pod retrieval."

"But that's as good as death?"

"Shut up, Justin," said another rookie. This one was Clare O'Neill, a sharper rookie with good pilot skills from Liberty. Travis had some time for her. "Focus on your flying and stop harassing the wing leader," she suggested.

"Bah," dismissed Justin. "We're in formation, nothing is going to happen out here."

At the end of the patrol, Travis' wing docked at Tau 31 Gate Construction Site station, much to his relief. He wasn't sure how much more naive prattling he could take. The veteran hunter had taught the lad a lesson though, a group of ships appeared on their sensors, the young pilot raced off in pursuit only to find he was alone after three klicks. He flew back to his wing and demanded an explanation. Travis outlined the ships were Zoner fighters and the last thing they wanted to do was pick a fight with them.

Travis wandered into the bar cursing his bad luck at being hired for such a lousy assignment and ordered a Sigma Blue. He leant back in his chair and watched the crowd gathering by the monitors. Another 'ring-race', thought Travis.

The race was a straight line through the asteroids, from the Construction Site to an asteroid miner, back to the Construction Site. Travis could make the run in his sleep. The veteran hunter got up from his chair and joined the growing crowd standing near the back of the group.

Suddenly something metal and solid poked into his back sharply, Travis stifled a grunt of pain.

"If you want to live, say nothing and move to the stairs," breathed a woman softly in his ear. "Keep your hands in front of you holding your drink and don't communicate with anyone." The voice was familiar and instinctively turned his head to see. The barrel of the gun, Travis assumed was pressed harder into his spine forcing his head to jerk backwards. "If you do anything but what I tell you, I will blow a hole the size of your head where your stomach is. Now, move!" she said.

Together, Travis and his assailant stepped through the crowd. He reached the stairs and tentatively walked up them, the gun was still a burning sensation in his back.

"Faster," said the woman. "I know retired freighter pilots that walk faster than you."

"Harsh," he replied sarcastically. A further sharp prod of the barrel sent another wave of pain lancing into his body, the woman knew how to hurt him.

They reached the top of the stairs.

"Turn left, round the corner, end room. Quickly." Travis did as he was told, and walked around the corner. When out of sight the pressure lessened slightly. He pretended to trip, then lashed out with his foot but managed to hit only air, the gun was cracked across the side of his head forcing him to fall and drop the drink in his hand that smashed on the ground. Travis was roughly hauled up to his feet by his hair.

"That was stupid and foolish," said the woman coldly. "And predictable. That room over there, now," she hissed pointing to a door nearby and shoved him hard in that direction with surprising force.

Travis gingerly rubbed the back of his head and walked into the room, the doors hissed open then found himself pushed inside hard where he again, fell to his feet.

"Hey! Come on, give me a break!" he demanded angrily. He turned round then froze, his mouth open and eyes wide. "You? But, you're dead!" he said.

The woman's green eyes pierced the darkness of the room and she levelled her gun at Travis, quickly adjusted a setting on the weapon, then fired at Travis' groin. The low-power stun wouldn't kill, but Travis felt the pain of a thousand needles at once spiking into his vital parts. The hunter dropped to his knees holding himself in total agony, tears welled up in his eyes.

"That, is a small fraction of what they did to me," said the woman. She stepped out of the shadows and the door closed behind her.

"Tanya," whispered Travis through the cloud of pain that threatened to black out. "I never wanted to do it. It was just a mission. It wasn't personal," he said. She glared at him saying nothing.

"Where is the disc they gave you on me?" she asked. Travis looked confused at first; the hesitation brought another shot into the same area enveloping his hands as well. He yelled in agony and fell sideways to the ground.

"Wait, wait!" he pleaded desperately. Travis pointed slowly at a jacket hanging up. Tanya walked over to it and searched the pockets and swiftly found the datadisc. "Did you make copies?"

Travis shook his head.

"You're lying." Tanya fired again causing Travis to writhe this time screaming again, this time clutching his left shoulder. "Tell me everything. Who hired you to track me down?" she asked coldly.

"I swear it," said Travis trembling now from a combination of fear and shock. "I haven't made copies, and I don't know who hired me."

"You lie!" Tanya levelled the gun again but Travis quickly out of desperation put his hands up in defense.

"I'm not lying! I swear it! You have to believe me! The contact made comms through an encrypted channel. We never met."

"If you read my profile, then you know my history," said Tanya softly.

"Yes, yes. I know. I'm sorry. If I knew in the beginning I wouldn't have taken the contract!"

Tanya's eyes blazed.

"You lying bastard! How dare you! You killed eight people that volunteered for the training. Volunteers, Travis Carter. People willing to sacrifice their lives for the Houses and what do they get? Someone like you!", Tanya raised the gun and adjusted the setting. Travis noted the power level humming in response, the next shot would be to kill. "You even got my friend Kenji killed! You tried to kill me!"

"Wait, wait" he began again. "I can help you. I know how to reach them,"

"You said you've never met your contact. Why would they talk to you now?" she asked angrily. Tanya levelled the gun at his head. He swallowed then spoke again, an attempt at calm and placation of the wild-eyed, furious woman before him.

"Believe me. If I tell them the mission went wrong they will do something. There is no way they could let information pertaining to you pass without at least minimum investigation. Right now, you don't exist. You're..dead. No-one even knows what you look like, I heard about the destruction of your station. All files relating to you were destroyed. Even Orbital Spa think you're dead." The words came out in a stream. "If you re-surfaced, it would draw them out like moths to light."

Tanya didn't respond at first, although the gun was aimed still dangerously between Travis' eyes. He took a risk and pressed on."

"But why do this? You're effectively a nobody, just disappear! No-one knows you're alive. You could start again. Facial reconstruction. A new life."

Tanya considered this for several long, arduous heartbeats.

"Fine. You have one chance. Get me closer to your contact and I'll consider letting you live. Until then, remember me. Remember what I can do. I'll be watching. When you're ready to talk, leave a message on the main message board at Planet Hamburg. Don't betray me again, or I will make you very sorry indeed, Travis. You've already tricked me once. There is no second," she hissed.

The young woman watched the Hunter who nodded slowly in response, then adjusted her gun again as he spoke.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll help you. But I ask again, why do this? Just disappear!" he said through gritted teeth at the thought of more pain from the blaster.

"Why am I doing this? For the others in my team. For revenge on the people who make these terrible decisions. For Kenji." Her voice trembled as she spoke his name, a tear rolled down her cheek. "Good night, Travis," and fired before he could protest. Travis fell for a final time, stunned unconscious by the force of the blast.

Tanya walked over to Travis with the gun now adjusted again to kill. She bent low and put the slightly warm barrel against his head and placed her finger on the trigger, gently squeezing it. Tanya held the gun still for a few moments willing herself to fire. A tear fell onto the prone man's face, then she sighed, took a deep breath and sheathed the gun under her jacket.

"I am no monster," she whispered wiping the tears away using her sleeve.

Tanya slipped out of the room.

Travis was left with his dreams, of a girl with bright green eyes and a dazzling smile.

(cont'd)


	7. Chapter 7

Tanya left Tau 31 Construction Site station an hour later.

Only when she was safely back on her ship, a Dromedary freighter, flying towards Kusari space did she relax. The cockpit of the freighter was spacious, there was enough room for two passengers and a reasonable amount of personal equipment. Tanya had bought the freighter from the Lane Hackers at Mactan Base, they barely tolerated her and only because she had done a number of raids on vulnerable storage depots to acquire some valuable engine components.

Engaging in illegal activities didn't sit well with Tanya, she knew that working independently meant she had to survive through any means. At least no-one was hurt and the depots could always be repaired. She could have stolen more but was satisfied with taking enough cargo to purchase the ship, weapons and equipment to convert a section of the freighter into living quarters.

The young woman decided until she had settled matters with those involved in the great Houses, limiting her interaction with people was a wise idea. Tanya found it hard though. She was a natural people person. Once she had confirmed that no further records of her past existed, she would change her name and move on with her life. Sirius was such a large place, it would be unlikely anyone from Orbital Spa would recognise her, pilots come and go and life expectancy was now much shorter than society would expect given such huge technological advances.

She tried to recall her family, but the memories wouldn't come to her. Her family 'account' was still active, through further enquiries Tanya learnt she had set up the account herself. She decided it was best left alone for now, any transfers of credits could be easily tracked.

"Life is cheap," said Kenji's voice in her mind. "But always worth fighting for," he finished. She smiled at the memory.

Two days later, Tanya landed her dromedary at Planet Hamburg. It was probably the most cosmopolitan planet in the strict disciplinarian world of Rheinland space, due to its position on the main trade route between Liberty and the rest of the territory. Tanya felt very comfortable on Hamburg, a variety of cultures mixed together on one planet, the perfect place to disappear.

For the right price, Tanya could start a new life and move on. Tanya knew a man who created false identities. Marco Van Koenig also erased old ones. He was a retired Rheinland Military Intelligence officer in his forties and skilled in the arts of forgery and information subterfuge. She couldn't remember how she knew of Marco, perhaps an icon from her previous 'life' as House assassin, but she would trust him. Fragments of memory would flash by her eyes again, a conversation here or there, a request, a payment, a collection.

The young woman had altered her hair, it was blonde now and a little shorter than before, coming to her shoulders rather than languishing near the middle of her back. The clothes were that of a freelance trader or merchant, loose slacks, flight jacket, shirt, boots and cap that was currently under her arm completed the outfit. No more jumpsuits, she decided.

Tanya left the landing pad and walked a hundred metres to an area where she could hire a sky cab. Although she was an expert pilot, someone with greater knowledge of the terrain would be an advantage here. Tanya joined the short queue and minutes later was at the front. A pleasant looking man in his mid-twenties gave his best smile as he saw her approach.

"Gutentag, fraulein. Welcome to Planet Hamburg. What destination do you require?" he asked with professional courtesy. His eyes lingered on Tanya's a little longer than necessary.

"Hello. I'd like to go to this address, please," Tanya produced a card from her pocket and showed the attendant. He raised an eyebrow.

"Miss, that area is no place for you. It is," he paused trying to find a suitable word. "Dangerous. A woman of your..like you," he blushed furiously. She smiled encouragingly. "Would be noticed quickly," he finished at last.

"I can take care of myself," she replied in good humour. Tanya expertly twisted her hair up, tied it using a band and placed her cap on her head. Though she was still devastatingly attractive up close, at a distance she was just another pilot. "Does this help?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes. Of course. I will find you a good skycab. P-please wait here," stammered the hapless attendant. Tanya glanced behind her, no-one was following her or in the queue, though a large shuttle had just landed two pads away. The attendant raised his hand to the commset over his head and spoke swiftly, too quiet for Tanya to hear over the roar of the flying vehicles overhead. About a minute later a skycab descended, lowered its landing gear and settled on the concourse.

Tanya nodded her approval at the smooth landing. Seeing her reaction the attendant grinned again.

"This is a good pilot, one of the best!" he said, then stepped in much closer to Tanya's surprise and spoke again more softly this time. "Miss, I would very much like to meet you again. Please consider my request, I know many good restaurants in the city. I could show you the sights!" he suggested enthusiastically.

Tanya's green eyes locked onto his own of dark brown, detecting no malice or hidden intent, just youthful vigour. She laughed and looked thoughtful. The man looked like he was about to burst in trepidation.

"Sure. Where and when?" she said at last.

The attendant virtually jumped.

"At the Oder Plaza Hotel. It is popular and well-known. There is a ball tonight, to celebrate the turning from dark to light of Planet New Berlin. I have tickets. Well, my father has tickets and he cannot go, therefore I have tickets. You will come? Dinner? A ball afterwards? The ballroom is beautiful."

Tanya considered this. A quiet dinner was acceptable. But a ball? She did not want to be so exposed in such a public environment. The attendant noticed her hesitation.

"It is a masquerade ball! A masked event! No-one will see you. Just meet me at the hotel lobby and I will have your mask ready," he said. His final push.

"Very well," Tanya relented. She could use the opportunity to relax, a masquerade ball would work well. If Marco did his job, she could even test her new identity. So what do I call you, sir?" she said, her genuine good humour making her eyes sparkle. The attendant went weak at the knees.

"My name? Of course, my name! I haven't told you!" He cleared his throat. "I am Rutger, Rutger Daumann," he said proudly with a slight theatrical bow. Tanya had heard the name before.

"Daumann. Of the Daumann Heavy Construction company?" she asked curiously. Tanya glanced over her shoulder and saw passengers disembarking from the shuttle and approaching the skycab pads.

"Yes! I am of the illustrious Daumann legacy. My father, Baron Hector Daumann is away on business at the Breisen Mining Facility," Rutger replied curtly.

"But wait, if your father owns Daumann, what are you doing here..as a..skycab attendant?" asked Tanya incredulous now. Rutger looked sheepish.

"My father tells me this is good work experience. A humbling experience. I see many people and they must all be treated with respect. No matter how discourteous they are, I must take the higher road," was the reply. Tanya looked bemused.

"Your father is a wise man," she said carefully. "I would be delighted to accept your offer. I will be at the Oder Plaza Hotel tonight, at 1900 standard hours." Tanya stepped on board the skycab, the engines were still active and thrumming under her feet. "Don't be late!" she chided, then closed the door.

The skycab took off and joined a fast-moving carriageway where other craft were flying at speed.

Rutger looked up and watched her vehicle disappear around the corner of a tall skyscraper. Suddenly he noticed a crowd of angry passengers had gathered before him, all were staring, waiting for the attendant to help them. It was going to be a long day, but she was worth it.

"Oh no!" he wailed. "I didn't even ask for her name!"

Tanya's skycab flew effortlessly amongst the upper levels of Hamburg City, the main population centre on Planet Hamburg.

Her vehicle joined hundreds of others travelling through a sky lane, a much smaller planetary version of the huge trade lanes that assist intra-system travel in Sirius. She was heading for the 'Reeperbahn', a dilapidated section of sky lane heading west out of the city, where surrounding suburbs were infamous for criminal activity, prostitution and gun-running.

The young woman was sat in the back seat of her skycab, a vehicle large enough to hold six passengers and luggage capable of reaching speeds of three-hundred kilometres per hour. The driver, clearly very experienced as occasionally he would slip out of a sky lane to take a non-power assisted lane, only to join another sky lane further down. She checked her watch and started a mental timer, seven hours to the ball she agreed to attend.

Tanya sighed. She was rarely a creature of impulse but there was something about Rutger that made her accept his offer. He was handsome, but he also had a sincerity that she considered a rare commodity these days. That and the fact it was a masquerade ball, anonyminity was virtually guaranteed. Lost in her thoughts her gaze focused on a point in the distance, the buildings flew past at impossible speeds until eventually the skyline changed. Tanya noticed the skycab descending into the lower levels of the city, passing a blanket of smog and cloud then bursting into freeflight as the sky lane ended.

She landed close to the site of where her contact, a fixer named Marco van Koenig could be found. He had agreed to meet her through an encoded message board, one reserved for people in her line of work, or at least, the kind of work Tanya used to be involved with.

They arranged to meet in a secluded part of town, close to the sky lane but hidden behind tall buildings. Tanya checked she wasn't being followed at irregular intervals altering her route and sometimes doubling-back on herself.

"You're paranoid, girl," she told herself. "No-one in their right mind would be wandering around out here."

Thirty minutes later, Tanya found herself at the foot of a staircase that led to a disused church, a strong wind blew through the courtyard causing several howls and whistles as air passed between cracks and gaps. The young woman glanced up, though it was still mid-morning the smog ceiling made the sky overcast and dull. Taking a quick glance left and right, Tanya ran up the steps and gingerly opened one of the front doors, pleased to find it open and surprisingly well-oiled, it didn't creak at all. She pushed open the door, stepped inside and closed it behind her, immediately shutting out the howl and creating a tangible silence.

Tanya noted the interior of the church was in a renaissance style, though some decoration and renovation wouldn't go amiss. She peered into the gloom and saw only dust floating randomly caught in beams of light, created by muck-covered windows around the walls. She took a chance.

"Marco! Are you here? It is Tanya?" she called out, then heard her name echo back at her.

There was no reply.

"Marco!" she tried again. "I'm alone. Come out, it's safe!" she shouted. Tanya heard a quick shuffle coming from the area ahead of her, by the altar perhaps. Cursing herself for being unarmed, she slipped into the shadows and crept along the left wall, focusing her attention around the altar. As she neared the altar, a terrible smell struck her, a rotting, musky scent. The smell of the dead, she thought.

Tanya glanced around looking for a weapon and to her dismay found only an ancient leather-bound hymn book and shrugged picking it up, smiling as she measured the weight. She closed on the altar and as the smell became stronger, almost retched at what she saw. Marco was lying in a naked, crumpled heap behind the altar, a twisted grimace of pain on his face giving away the moment of death as terrifying. She shook her head sadly, Marco had been a kind man, though a true felon, wanted in several systems for forgery and information subterfuge, but the old man was harmless. He was like the old uncle Tanya never had.

The girl dragged a drape down from a wall nearby and walked over to him with it, several rats disturbed by the movement scurried away, probably the cause of the shuffling Tanya heard before. She closed his eyes then lay the drape on top of him, suddenly tense.

She had agreed to meet the fixer a week ago, contacting him almost immediately leaving the Tau systems. If Marco had been dead for at least three days, someone must have known about their arrangement and left him here, at their designated place of meeting. Is this a coincidence? She shook her head, berating herself for even thinking of it.

"There are no coincidences," said a voice in her mind. A flash of light appeared behind her eyes again, a scene from years ago as she underwent her first days of training. "If an event occurs and you have doubts, no matter how small, desist and exit. Dead men do not complete missions," said her tutor. Tanya ran to the small steps leading to the pulpit and hid behind the stone wall.

Minutes later, her worst fears became true, the main door to the church opened suddenly the wind outside had reached a crescendo so she missed the number of people entering the building, then it was shut and the church was still once again. Tanya heard muffled voices, as though spoken through an earpiece and curbed her reaction to see the newcomers for herself.

She heard movement coming from ahead of her, it was oppressive. Damn it, she thought. How did this happen? She felt the weight of the hymn book under her arm and hefted it. About six feet away was a window, weakened from years of poor maintenance. Tanya risked revealing her location, but at least the reaction would tell her if these people were friendly or otherwise.

Tanya threw the book with all her might at the window, causing a mighty crash as fragments of glass fell to the ground. The girl leapt from behind the pulpit and using all the power in her legs, stepped onto a bench for height and forward flipped into a somersault. The wall around her chipped and exploded as projectile gunfire pounded the frame. An energy beam narrowly missed her and melted a chunk of window that stubbornly refused to shatter. Tanya almost whooped in joy as her spinning body cleared the window frame and landed on the grounds outside. She took off to her right and ran for the back of the church. Loud voices could be heard coming from the church.

At least that settled one thing, they weren't friendlies.

She ran again away from the church wall towards the graveyard and made for a large headstone with an expensive looking plot. Tanya hunkered down behind the large stone and waited. It wasn't long before her attackers slowly approached the back of the church and from both sides leapt out. Tanya nodded in approval, attacking from two points is sensible, the fact they didn't shoot each other meant they were well-trained.

They were all dressed similarly, dark urban gear, flak vests, no helmets indicated a touch of arrogance. Tanya counted four men in all. She looked for the leader. There was always a leader. One man, taller than the others and carrying the only energy weapon started barking orders. They split up into pairs and began moving towards the graveyard. She watched one pair walk back around the church and head towards the far graveyard. The other pair walked towards her.

Tanya noted the way they carefully walked, one man moving ahead while the other remained behind to cover his flanks. Then the lead man stopped and the one behind moved ahead using the same technique. Predictable, but solid, she thought. The point they were vulnerable was when they were almost standing next to each other. Trained by amateurs, she mused.

She slowly moved around the headstone to place that and other objects between her and the men. Glancing over her shoulder to ensure the other pair hadn't returned, Tanya then began to creep closer to the nearest pair and smiled as her trailing hand closed around a fist-sized stone. Within moments, she was within twenty feet and behind the pair.

Tanya took a deep breath, then silently burst out from her hiding place running a full speed. A heartbeat later she had closed half the distance and threw the stone as hard as she could. It took one of the men at the base of the skull, hammering into the nerve bundle at the top of his spine. He jerked spasmodically and fell forwards. Before he hit the ground, Tanya leapt and spun, her body spinning in a tight circle then lashed out her right foot, crashing into the leaders' temple forcing him to drop his gun and tumble onto his dying companion. She landed lightly and rushed forwards punching the man in the head stunning him. Tanya grabbed his energy blaster and shot the dying, jerking, man once. Energy weapons made no sound, but she heard his back sizzling from where she struck him. She grabbed the projectile gun off the ground and fired it once into the leaders' leg. Then turned and waited.

Moments later the other pair came running around the corner of the church and with great accuracy and speed, Tanya dropped them both with the blaster.

The young woman turned her attention back to the unconscious man, a cold and determined expression on her face.

They had come to kill her, ambush her as she was meeting an old friend that was now dead.

She would need some time with this one, to learn everything he knew.

The Oder Plaza Hotel was a sumptuous sight. Tanya had never seen such a lavish and luxurious location for a party. Even the large causeway had been filled with gold and silver balloons, shimmering drapes and a huge number of waiting staff to cater for all the guests' possible needs.

Tanya had arrived two hours before and having booked a room with a view of the causeway, was able to wait until she saw Rutger arrive in his huge Daumann Armoured Transport. She saw him walk out, flanked by a group of four bodyguards and smiled. He was definitely better than handsome! Gorgeous, might be more appropriate. The young man had almost transformed from the skycab attendant she met earlier in the day, wearing a white tuxedo, a white and blue sash over his shoulder and across his chest and a ceremonial sword hung from his waist. His boots were smart and polished, lights reflecting off the surface. He looked every inch the son of a Baron, and heir to the Daumann Heavy Industries' empire.

She stepped out onto the balcony and was startled to see Rutger staring straight back at her. How had he known she was there? Tanya chuckled. How would the son of Baron Daumann 'not' know where she was staying? It amused, but alarmed her. The name she used to register the room was a false one. Tonight, Tanya was Evelyn O'Connor. A trader from Bretonia space, no known family and being spaceborn it would place her with one of millions of other spaceborns who nothing of their lineage. A legacy from Marco's era, she thought sadly.

Tanya left the balcony and made her way to the elevators.

Minutes later, she walked out into the lobby and noted with secret pleasure, the impact of her arrival on the waiting Daumann heir who barely managed to close his mouth as he gazed upon her.

The young woman was dressed in a simple, yet devastatingly attractive maroon dress made from velvet and lace, a silver tiara sat atop her hair, tied up into a small bun. The upper part of her dress displayed every aspect of Tanya's lithe, toned figure and whilst not entirely revealing, showed off enough of her curves so that each breath she took caused plenty of distractionary movement. A silver pendant hung around her neck and sparkled in the bright light.

As she approached Rutger, she felt the flowing skirt trailing behind her and hoped she hadn't grown too much since she last wore this. Her shoes were flat in case she had to run and it would be a terrible fashion faux pas if anyone saw them. Shrugging off this minor concern, she laughed at herself helping to deliver her best smile and watched with satisfaction as Rutger's mouth opened again.

"My, my, lady!" he stammered. "You are simply..beautiful! Words cannot describe what I am looking upon tonight!" he exclaimed. The flattery wasn't necessary, but she was grateful to hear it anyway.

"Thank you, sir." Tanya said bemused.

Rutger stared back, then blinked when one of his guards coughed loudly. Tanya heard someone whisper something but said nothing and merely held her smile watching him.

"Oh! The mask!" he turned round and opened a case that one of his guards presented. Rutger turned back to face her holding two masks, both were identical, though one was slightly softer in the features. The masks seemed very well made, white in colour and covering the eyes, nose and cheeks, leaving the mouth and chin revealed. A pair of small golden wings to the sides of the mask leant additional cover from someone standing to the side. Tanya appreciated that.

"May I?" asked Rutger, already stepping around her to fasten the mask to her. She was pleased, having both hands free would be useful, other guests had to hold their mask with one hand. Tanya decided they were more interested in doing other things involving their faces. Rutger expertly clipped the mask into place, Tanya adjusted it until it was comfortable.

Rutger walked back to face her and looked sad.

"A shame your beauty must be hidden so, but at least I have a fleeting memory," he sighed. One of his guards placed a mask over his face and it too was clipped into place.

He extended an arm, and laughing, Tanya glided over smoothly and took it with one of her own. The guards adopted positions in front and behind them both. From a fold in her skirt, she produced a fan that she snapped open and smiled as light glinted from the metal frame. As they passed a vase, she absently drew the edge of the fan across the flowers, then began to flick the fan back and forth slowly.

Rutger swallowed.

"By Sirius, what else do you have tucked away in there?" he asked. Tanya held his gaze, her green eyes shining brightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she whispered.

Minutes later, a newly arrived guest watched in fascination as a flower in a vase near the entrance to the ballroom split in two, the head falling to the table. Then another fell, and another.

(cont'd)


	8. Chapter 8

The last two hours were nothing but a blur for Tanya.

Since she had met Rutger at the lobby of the Oder Plaza Hotel, she found herself whisked around by him, introduced to so many people, even her acute memory occasionally failed to recall names. It was made all the more complicated that the event was a masquerade ball. Tanya, or Evelyn her current alter ego, would be hailed by a stranger only to remember them vaguely from a previous introduction.

Tanya recalled with some joy the opening ceremony, about a dozen couples of professional dancers had taken to the floor, a wide circle of excited guests forming around the troupe. The dancers moved with incredible grace, precision and co-ordination re-enacting an ancient Terran custom known as the "waltz". Tanya was fascinated and Rutger noticed her aroused curiosity.

"Evelyn, or may I call you Eve?" he asked. He was beaming.

Though Tanya's face was hidden by her mask, the slight swagger and assured expression Rutger wore clearly indicated to other observant guests he was pleased with his companion for the evening. It was very warm inside the ballroom and Tanya had removed the silk shawl initially wrapped around her shoulders, revealing more of herself to the Daumann heir.

"Of course, Eve would be fine. Though I struggle to find an abbreviation of your name, Rutger," she laughed. "Do you prefer, 'Rut', 'Ger'?" she suggested, a wanton smile appearing and fading quickly in mock seriousness.

He coughed when she said 'Rut'. His watchful guards, ever present but careful not to intrude on the heir's privacy coughed too, stifling a reaction.

"Call me," he began thoughtfully. "Ace."

Tanya watched him impassively, under the mask an eyebrow was raised.

"You don't like it?" he asked concerned. Tanya thought it was the most awful name in Sirius.

"Rutger. I think I should call you, Rutger," she said nodding slowly, noticing his disappointment. "It has a certain strength to the name, don't you think?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, yes!" he brightened, then changed the subject. "So you like this dance? It's a traditional dance, I have no idea how such a thing could have survived so long, but they say it was an important part of our culture many thousands of years ago."

Tanya laughed.

"I do like the, 'waltz'? It looks like a lot of fun," she remarked.

"Would you like to try?" he suggested. "I am classically trained," he beamed. Tanya blinked.

"You..can dance?"

"Why yes! I spent a year at a training academy learning 'ballet'."

"Ballet," nodded Tanya, she'd heard one of the guests speaking of this art form earlier. Did men really still do this? She pictured the tall, dark haired Rutger in tights and giggled.

"What is so funny?" asked Rutger. "Ballet, is not to be laughed at. It builds great strength in the legs, brings poise and balance, albeit the tights are uncomfortable at times," he said almost to himself looking up at a chandelier. Tanya couldn't help it and burst out laughing, unable to check herself from laughing at the heir. Rutger looked shocked, almost furious, then slowly a smile began to ease its way to his face and soon he too was laughing. All around them both, guests were looking on, some bemused, some haughtily pompous.

Rutger grabbed Tanya's wrist and pulled her in to the crowd where for ten minutes, he twirled and spun the girl much to her delight. The dance soon stopped and a gong was rung. The pair stopped dancing now breathless smiling at each other madly, then joined the rest of the congregation who had turned their attention to the main stage.

The band struck up a powerful anthem and almost immediately afterwards, a small procession of important looking people stepped onto the stage. There were three people in all, two men of middle age, and woman much younger, perhaps Tanya's age in appearance at least. Tanya watched the woman and the hairs on the back of her neck went stiff, she didn't know why, but Tanya sensed this woman was dangerous somehow.

Rapturous applause filled the ballroom and lasted for a good minute, until one of the men took centre stage and spoke powerfully into a microphone, probably hidden somewhere on his clothing.

"My Lords, Ladies and gentlefolk. I, Admiral Von Claussen, hereby welcome you to the three-hundredth and sixth ceremonial Oder ball, to celebrate the passing of night and day on our beloved capital, New Berlin!"

The crowd broke into applause again, there was some wild cheering and Tanya heard more than a few glasses of expensive beverages drop and shatter. The applause eventually subsided as the Admiral raised his hand. He was a distinguished man in his fifties, with dark hair mostly grey at the temples and strong features he cut a charismatic figure under the lights. The crowd was silent as they waited for the decorated veteran to speak.

"I would like to thank the organisers and hosts of tonight's event, the Oder Plaza Hotel, the Rheinland military for providing safe passage to our honoured guests and last but by no means least, our guests of honour - Bounty Hunter clans, Akamoto, Kurosawa and Sakata from Kusari!"

The crowd gasped as another small procession were led onto the stage, surprised at seeing so many leading members of the Kusari nobility present at once in Rheinland space. Tanya counted six men in all, and recognised one although she couldn't see the others clearly. Takashi Akamoto, leader of the Akamoto hunter clan, Kenji's father!

Memories swept over her as she remembered her missing friend. She refused to believe he was dead but the loss of someone who had been like a brother to her was almost too much to bear. She quickly brought her drink to her lips and sipped it to hide her emotion. The crowd then began to cheer as they understood what was happening, this was the first true attempt at building a bridge between the two factions, since the 80-years war and more recently the Nomad incursion, Rheinland and Kusari were virtually enemies. It was a bold and ambitious move to try and bring the two colonies back from the brink of war. Tanya wondered who was behind this and what the true motives were.

Takashi Akamoto grasped the hand of the Admiral firmly who's smile was as broad as his own. They greeted each other as though they were old friends. The Kusari noble took centre stage and raised his head to speak.

"Friends, there are only friends here, I assume?" he laughed and the joke was well-received by the guests who laughed also.

"Firstly, thank you for the warm welcome. It has been almost two decades since I last set foot in Rheinland space, and that was when I beat the Admiral in a duel over Planet Sprague," he chuckled and winked at the Admiral who nodded back in good humour. "Seriously, all joking aside, this is a great moment for our two colonies, we humans are too few to continue the constant warring and wanton destruction of our neighbour. I hope this event marks the beginning of many such events that can bring our people together. We can lead the way to a greater future!"

The crowd whooped and cheered for a while, even Tanya cheered caught up in the emotion and power of the Kusari's speech. The intent was a good one, after all, she thought. She didn't notice it, but Rutger had slipped his hand around hers and she instinctively pulled it back, but the Daumann heir held it tightly and shook his head. He leaned in close.

"Fraulein, you do not have to fear me. I will not harm you, I promise," he said, dark brown eyes boring into her own. Tanya said nothing but stared back, uncertain. Rutger saw her hesitation.

"Eve, please. Do not be afraid of me. My status and wealth I would gladly put aside to be with you!" he said quickly. His guards standing just behind them looked at each other and shuffled their feet uncomfortably.

Tanya sighed and smiled.

"My dear Rutger. You are so foolish. How can you say these things, after what your father has been trying to teach you? About responsibility, respect, honour?" she began, though she felt Rutger's hand around her own, she did not try to remove hers. "You have a duty. You must never, ever say what you said to me to anyone again. No-one is worth that kind of sacrifice," she continued. Tanya wanted to say, 'least of all me'.

"Do you understand Rutger? I like you. A lot. You're very sweet and perhaps if circumstances were different, then," she paused. "Anything could happen. But not tonight. Not yet. Not for a while," Tanya leaned in and took Rutger's face in her hands. "I am not for you," she whispered softly.

She leaned in so close that Rutger could smell her hair, her own scent combined with the perfume she wore and kissed him gently on his trembling lips. The moment seemed to last forever. It was not passionate, but it left Rutger with the touch of her lips on his own long after he opened his eyes to see her gone.

"Uh, sir. Sir?" said one of his guards. "The lady Evelyn has left, sir." The guard watched Rutger's eyes open slowly, though his lips were still in a half-pout. He turned slowly as if in a stupor. "The lady has left, sir. She asked us to give you this message," continued the guard and held out his hand. In the centre of his palm lay a small datadisc. Rutger stared at it for a few seconds, all around him the music had started again and guests began to swirl around in time to the music. Rutger took the disc and loaded it into his neural net.

"Rutger, thank you for inviting me to the ball. I had a wonderful time and the occasion was simply beautiful. You are a good man, a great man. And you deserve better than me. I have many tasks yet to complete and I need myself whole to achieve success. If I took your advances seriously, I would give you everything, leaving nothing behind for what lies ahead. Perhaps in the future we will meet again. Please be the best you can be, and make your father proud. Love, Eve."

The Daumann heir stood silent as he listened to the voice message. Then he turned to his men and waved them to follow.

"Boys. Let's have a drink!" he said cheerfully and walked towards the bar.

The young woman had slid through the crowd away from Rutger and his men. Tanya had recorded the message earlier when she hadn't felt anything, and regretted it since her words may have been different. It was a simple task to disappear amongst the thousand revellers, but each step she took was more painful than the last.

Suddenly the loudspeakers broke the revelry and came to life.

"My friends, my guests," said the Admiral once again on the stage, this time with Akamoto and another man who Tanya could not see clearly. The young woman turned around to watch this surprising interruption. "Lord Akamoto has a few more words, please give him the honour of your attention!".

The crowd and band fell silent and waited for the Kusari to speak.

"Guests! I will keep this short. I am old," the crowd jeered with resounding cries of 'No'! Akamoto laughed.

"Yes, I am old. Too old to continue to function as Director of Operations for my clan. As you know the position is an important one, we represent a third of the total Bounty Hunters in Kusari. Our reputation is fierce, our record flawless. However, the time has come to announce my successor."

Tanya swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

"I give you the new Director of Operations for the Akamoto Bounty Hunter clan, my son. Kenji Akamoto!"

The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers, some members who were clearly Kusari themselves began chanting Kenji's name. The young warrior came forwards stepping out of the shadows into the spotlights of the stage. Tanya gasped, it was Kenji! Alive! She studied his face, and saw to her dismay a metal plate now covered the right side of his face, his right arm too was a cybernetic prosthetic. Kenji smiled, but Tanya didn't feel the same boyish enthusiasm in her friend anymore. It was a dead, cold smile. His cybernetic eye swivelled in tandem with his one real eye unnervingly.

"I am proud to be given the right of ascension as leader of the Akamoto clan," he began in a strangely metallic rasp. "I will begin by destroying every Outcast, Corsair and known acquaintances. I offer these contracts at fifty percent of our usual charge. There will be no respite for these criminals. No quarter wanted nor given. Anyone who stands in our way and has links or harbours these scum, be they from Liberty, Bretonia, Kusari or Rheinland will be destroyed also!"

He nodded once, then strode off the stage leaving his father and the Admiral in stunned silence.

Moments later as if ordered, the band started to play music again and the crowd returned to their dancing, though the atmosphere was subdued dramatically.

Tanya watched the two old men walk from the stage talking to each other and tried to search out Kenji from the departing Kusari delegates.

She could only see one person remain, the woman who had joined Lord Akamoto on the stage earlier and she too was scanning the crowd. Tanya left quickly, hastily but smoothly leaving the main ballroom for the elevator. Something was amiss but she was unable to understand what was happening. A soft beep from her neural net indicated a new message.

The lift doors closed leaving her alone with her thoughts and allowed Tanya to check her message in silence.

"Hey Tanya. This is Travis. Travis Carter. Remember me? I have the information you want. I'm on Hamburg. Get back to me, okay, babe?"

Tanya frowned. Travis. The man was insufferable. His cocky arrogance was beyond understanding, given the punishment Tanya had inflicted on him before.

It was time to get some answers.

(cont'd)


	9. Chapter 9

Tanya watched the bounty hunter sat opposite her through narrowed eyes. The smoke filled diner was a bustle of activity and given she hadn't rested properly for over twenty-four hours, she found it increasingly hard to concentrate on the conversation.

Not that the current conversation was of much interest to her. Travis had spent the last thirty minutes slicing chunks off his steak and talking about his highly uneventful journey from the Tau systems. He was biding his time for something.

"So, babe," began Travis, still chewing noisily on his steak. Tanya sent him a disembowelling glare. "Uh, Tanya. How's life treating you? Shot anyone else in the jewels recently?" asked Travis with a cheeky, mocking grin that went from ear-to-ear. He knew that no weapons were allowed this close to the spaceport. Travis felt he had to at least equalise the balance of power the next time he spoke to the dangerous young woman, sat opposite him staring back coolly.

Tanya feigned a smile and tilted her head slightly to the left, then straightened it.

"I'm not here to make small talk, Travis," replied Tanya curtly. "You said you had information that could lead me which is why I didn't kill you the last time we met. If you have nothing for me, then you're wasting time." She took a sip from her drink and made to stand up.

"Wait, wait. Look, I have something for you. But, it comes at a price," he replied smoothly. Tanya didn't like his attitude, it meant Travis had something planned. She cursed when she realised she was unarmed again, although after the visit at the church she vowed to be a little more prepared next time.

"Tell me what you know, then I'll decide on the price." Tanya watched him carefully, then as his head was bowed for a moment she glanced left and right behind Travis surveying the other customers at the restaurant.

You're paranoid, girl. She told herself.

Travis finished his steak and burped loudly, then took his napkin and wiped his mouth. He shook his head.

"No way, babe. You can't kill me. You need the information I have. And I'm the only one who knows it. Therefore. I set the price, not you," said Travis, his eyes were gleaming.

Tanya wanted so much to take the fork by her hand and plunge it into his skull, but her expression remained neutral.

"Travis, don't assume for one minute you have a hold on me. If you don't tell me what I need to know, I'll make your death a long and painful one," she hissed, leaning forwards slightly as she spoke. To her dismay, Travis looked disinterested and idly picked at his teeth with his nails.

"Your threats don't mean a frack," he said staring straight at her. "Y'see, babe. I know you. I mean, I really know you. No-one else in Sirius knows you like I know you, especially since I read your datadisc. I know, that you know, that you will do anything to make things right. And whilst that's a commendable trait. It makes you weak. They tried to take all those emotions," Travis was turning his hands into a small ball as he spoke and twisted it around. "But they failed. Now look at you. A mess. A killer with a conscience," he snorted.

Tanya's hand closed around the fork, the movement was not a subtle one and Travis chuckled at the action.

"Uh-uh. Bad idea, honey. I came prepared. Right now, a high-powered rifle is aimed at the centre of your back. My man is perched on a building opposite to ours. I have a couple other guys in here too. Besides, you don't want to create a scene, do you? After all. You're dead!" he said maliciously.

She watched him, considering his words. The fork was gently lain upon the table again.

"So much for no tricks," she said softly. Travis laughed.

"Babe, I have an investment to protect. I'm sure you understand? So. You gonna play nice? Or do I have to get rough with you?"

Tanya knew which one he'd prefer, the thought of the bounty hunter anywhere near her made her convulse.

"What do you want from me, Travis?" she asked coldly.

"That's better," he said smiling. He took a sip from his drink. "I have a contract.."

"On you? Shame," interrupted Tanya.

"Funny. Not. Now shut up and listen, woman. I have a contract I've been hired for. A kill. But let's say I'm indisposed."

Tanya tried to think of the most horrific way of disposing him.

"I want you to do it for me," he said matter-of-factly. There was a pause.

"Who?"

"Good girl," said Travis. He reached under his jacket and Tanya tensed. He laughed again, then produced a small palmtop computer. He flicked a switch and a picture came up. Admiral Von Claussen was on the screen. Tanya's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious. Him?" she asked incredulously. Travis nodded slowly.

"Yep. The kill is worth a lot of money. If you do this, I'll give you twenty percent. It's a fair share I think," he said with smirk. "And then I tell you what you want to know."

Tanya felt cold. There was nothing she wanted to do right now except make Travis suffer. However, the bounty hunter was right. Why was he doing this? Back in the Tau systems, he seemed almost, sympathetic to her cause. The sudden change made her wary, but she had no choice but to play along.

"Where and when?" she asked.

"The best time would be as he undocks from Altona station. He's flying in an armoured transport instead of one of his capital ships, stupid old man. He clearly believes this peace crap, 'eh?"

"This peace 'crap', Travis. Is worth more than your life!" remarked Tanya angry now.

"Look. Don't get emotional. Just do the job, get back to me and we can part our ways, okay? His ship leaves Altona in two hours and his escort should be limited to a couple of Valkyries. The reward for this will set me up for life. Then you'll never see me again. I bet that's worth killing one old man for, 'eh babe?" he said smoothly.

Tanya nodded.

"Fine. I'll do it," the words ate at her soul. "But I won't forget this, Travis. Make sure you have everything ready for me the next time we meet, otherwise I'll just kill you and forget about whatever information you have. Am I clear?" Travis smiled.

"You bet. Clear as photon, baby."

She got up and to Travis' surprise, instead of leaving the diner, walked over to two men sat by the bar and before anyone could react, knocked a drink over causing it to spill on their laps. Using one hand she struck a match and smiled as they both looked on in horror, then dropped the match and watched a gout of flame burst from their loins. The men ran screaming into the restroom causing all the diners to watch them in alarm. She quickly strode back to Travis who snatched his drink away from her.

"Thanks for telling me you had men in here. And the guy with the high-powered rifle? Did he possess a ring like this?" Tanya dropped a silver ring with embossed runes onto the table. There was a splash of blood on it. "Idiot. Don't ever under-estimate me, Travis. You're not good enough. I'll do the job and be back on Hamburg in four hours. Be here." Tanya blew him a contemptuous kiss and strode out.

Travis watched her leave and replaced his drink on the table with trembling hands. He swallowed and almost jumped when his ear comm crackled into life.

"At least she took the bait, Carter," said a heavily-accented voice. "With the Admiral dead, there will be no peace between Kusari and Rheinland. There will be war again. And as we know. War, is money."

"Whatever," replied Travis sub-vocalising. "When the Admiral dies, my debt is paid in full, right?" A pause.

"Perhaps. It depends on how public the death is."

"Outside a space station? It can't get more public than that!" said Travis. He hated being on a leash.

"You owe the Blood Dragons ten million credits. It grows by ten thousand credits each day. I hope this woman does the job well and your assurances of her ability are about as much use as your credit rating at the moment." Travis cringed.

"She will. She's the best I know."

"You realise she must die when the mission is complete?"

"Yeah. I know. I ain't doin' that though."

"Did I mention your debt is now fifteen million credits, Carter? My apologies. I forgot."

"Wait wait, dammit. Okay! I was just kidding. I'll do it," Travis looked angry.

"Good. Do the job. Kill her. Bring some evidence. Then we can consider everything, neutral. Good bye, bounty hunter." The voice signed off before he could reply.

Travis sat in his booth watching the crowd go by. The two men walked out of the restroom and looked at him waiting for orders but he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"She deserves better, bud. You are scum, Travis," he sighed to himself and lit a cigarette. "You really are scum."

An hour went by and a waiter walked over to him, a stack of coffee cups had built up on his table. With the exception of the waiting staff, he was the only person left in the diner.

"Sir? We are closing soon. Can I get your bill?"

Travis, lost in thought, looked up at the waiter.

"Huh? The bill? Oh yeah." He fished around in his jacket and produced a cred stick, which he handed to the waiter. He ran it through a portable charger which subsequently returned an angry beep.

"Sorry, sir. You have no credits," said the waiter coolly. Travis looked up annoyed.

"Okay, okay. Here. Take this," and dropped a silver ring into the waiter's surprised hand. Travis stood up and ran out before the waiter could say anything else.

It was raining outside, Travis pulled up the collar of his jacket and looked up at the spaceport, far above him.

"Dammit, Tanya. You were right. I'm an idiot!"

The bounty hunter ran towards the lift.

(cont'd)


	10. Chapter 10

Tanya sat in the cockpit of her powered-down Hammerhead watching the docking bay of Altona Station. She had been waiting outside the station for just under an hour, having left the station thirty minutes after meeting Travis.

"Travis Carter, I hate you," she said to no-one in particular and was surprised to learn she didn't really mean her words. For all of his slimy faults, Tanya had a measure of respect for the man who out-witted and captured her. She vowed never to let down her guard again.

A soft beeping from her on-board computer indicated the Admiral's Armoured Transport was about to disembark from the station. The young woman had tapped into the station's docking register and learnt exactly what time the Admiral's ship was leaving. In response, she activated the six wing-mounted missile launchers and armed her torpedo launcher. Two full salvoes and the ship would be destroyed.

Tanya shook her head.

She actually thought the old Admiral had very good intentions. To bring peace throughout Sirius is no simple task and many would lose from such an event occurring. She wondered what the various military factions, corporations who supplied and developed their technology and of course, the governments that relied on the military for support would cope if Sirius was without conflict.

Suddenly without warning her comm. channel opened and a full helmeted image appeared in her HUD. Another blip on her screen indicated another ship leaving Altona Station. It was Travis.

"Travis, by the suns of Sigma, what are you doing?" asked Tanya furious. "If you stay anywhere within a hundred metres of the docking bay you'll be blown to pieces!"

"Tanya, listen to me. You cannot attack the Admiral's ship," replied Travis quickly.

"What are you talking about? Is this another trick?" she demanded.

"No, listen. I'm serious. The Admiral is-"

Tanya interrupted.

"Travis. Stop playing games. You need the Admiral dead. I need him dead. Then you tell me what I need to know. Then we're clear. It's simple."

"It's not that simple. The Admiral never travels without an escort," said Travis.

"Whatever. I can handle a few ships," said Tanya locking her seat belt into place. So much for a quick kill, she thought. Travis' Hammerhead flew closer to Tanya's.

"Tanya, I'm serious. These pilots are the elite of the Rheinland military. They fly the best ships, Valkyries," Travis heard Tanya snort in derision. "And they're cloaked."

Tanya blinked.

"Cloaked?" she asked.

"Yes, cloaked damn it!" shouted Travis. "And there are twelve fighters! You can't beat twelve ships on your own, especially when you're presumably mounting missiles and torps for a cap-ship kill."

Tanya thought about this, then noticed a large, grey Armoured Transport bearing the Admiral's colours, leave the station.

"Travis. He's leaving," she said.

"Please. Trust me. I swear I'm not lying to you," pleased Travis.

"Trust you? That's asking for a lot. But fine. I can wait. Armoured Transports don't move particularly quickly," said Tanya coldly. "If you're lying I can catch him at the next point."

She watched the Transport coast its way to a nearby trade lane and activate a docking sequence, then frowned as it sped off into the distance. Just before she was about to berate the bounty hunter, a dozen heavy fighters suddenly appeared out of the darkness of space, their cloaking fields shimmering away with a green aura. The Valkyries also docked with the trade lane and soon blinked off her HUD.

Tanya unclipped her seat belt and breathed a huge sigh.

"Travis Carter. Start talking. Why did you send me on this suicide mission? And more importantly, why did you stop me from carrying it out?" she demanded.

"It's complicated, babe," began Travis. Tanya cringed again. "But I'll be blunt. I'm now in the same pile of frack that you are," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You've heard of the Blood Dragons, right? Kusari organised crime syndicate. Allies to the Golden C. Friendly to the Outcasts?"

"Yes," was Tanya's reply.

"I owe them, a lot of money," admitted Travis.

"That's not my problem," said Tanya curtly. Travis shook his head.

"Well, it's kinda become your problem, babe. I told the Blood Dragon's that you would kill the Admiral and probably die in the process of doing it. Even if you failed to kill the Admiral, I could take him out on my own at a later stage, though the death would be less public."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing! You slime!" raged Tanya. Her green eyes gleamed in fury.

"Listen, listen. I saved your life remember?" said Travis trying to calm the woman down. "Problem is, I disobeyed their order, so that means I'm now a marked man. And you, Tanya, are a marked woman."

Her grip on her joystick tightened until her knuckles were bone white from the tension.

"Are you telling me, that I'm now an enemy of the entire crime syndicate?" she hissed through gritted teeth. Travis was careful in his reply.

"Tanya, help me out," he began in a placating tone. Take out the leader of the clan and his lieutenants that I'm indebted to and I'll tell you what you need," proposed Travis. "It's not all of the Blood Dragons. By Kusari hells, they fight each other as much as the rest of Sirius."

"No. This is getting old, Travis Carter. Each time I get close, you throw something else at me. How can I trust you after everything I've been through? Who's to say I do what you ask, then something else comes along. I won't be on your leash anymore Travis. Tell me something useful or I'll kill you right here, right now."

In response to her words, she armed her missiles; glad she had retained the sense to keep an EMP missile launcher mounted, and then swung her ship around to face his.

Travis stared back at Tanya through his cockpit window, his blue eyes meeting her own of green. A few minutes passed, though it seemed much longer until he spoke.

"Governor Mason. Jack Mason. He was a Major in the Liberty Navy until he resigned his commission four years ago and now works for Liberty as a diplomatic advisor in the Senate. It's all a sham though, Mason is still on the Liberty Navy payroll, but functioning as a civilian on their council gives him wider access to certain people."

"You mean, bribes?" ventured Tanya.

"Yes, in a sense. He is able to turn votes around very quickly by lending unofficial military support to certain key corporations. Ageira, DSE, IC, the big ones."

"So why did he order the destruction of my team?" asked Tanya. She wanted to say volunteers, or victims, but felt getting emotional now wouldn't be helpful.

"Because the team went on a mission that he requested. The objective was to destroy a large installation, an Outcast installation; a one-of-a-kind biodome similar to the Freeports in design. It was the Outcasts first foray into extended absences away from Planet Malta. As you know, all Outcasts rely on Cardamine to survive. Their cells begin to break down if they remain away from Malta for too long, even with the aid of Cardamine to slow down the deterioration of their bodies. Hence why their front lines on bases like Cali and Ruiz are frequently rotated. This was some of the information you sent back during your mission."

Travis took a breath, then continued.

"So your team infiltrated the Outcasts. We got you close to their leader who was at the inauguration ceremony of the new outpost. But you failed. You, Tanya. After spending so much time with the Outcasts, you fell in love with the Don's son and when he stood between you and his father in defence, you couldn't do the job!"

Tanya reeled in her seat, bright lights and fast-moving images flashing before her eyes. Her locked in an initimate embrace with a young, handsome Hispanic man. Gentle touching and kissing soon replaced with more intense passion. Another image, a lavish hall full of people. An explosion. Tanya at the head of a group, a blaster in hand. 'Why, Tanya? Why betray us?" he asked. Travis' voice brought her back to the present.

"The mission was a failure and the project suspended. The whole team was either brought back for corrective treatment, or killed if they resisted. You were one of the last, and you undertook more treatment than anyone. I'm sorry."

Tanya shook her head trying to free her mind from the swirling faces.

"I..remember," she said between large, gulping breaths. "I couldn't kill him. I loved him. The Kusari doctor told me I had re-discovered my true personality. It's why he helped me escape from detention and get to the Tau systems on your trail. Mason ordered the destruction of the station I was on? He was the one who ordered to wipe the slate clean?"

"Correct," affirmed Travis. "When he found out you, the person responsible for causing the mission to fail, were still alive he arranged for everyone that was even remotely involved in the project to be present on the station. He decided to remove all trace of the projects physical existence in one fell swoop. Mason then declared the station as outlaws, a Rogue hideout and had the Liberty Navy destroy it."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"So. Mason had everyone killed when the project failed? That's beyond evil," Tanya said softly.

"He doesn't know evil, babe. He's above that. He has no feelings. I'd say he lost a chunk of his humanity when they replaced his body after the Nomad wars."

"Replaced his body?" asked Tanya incredulous.

"Yeah. He's virtually metal. The only remains from his human body are his brain and spinal column."

Tanya absorbed all the information. Only one more question remained.

"Travis. How do you know so much?"

Travis didn't reply straight away, instead looking out beyond his cockpit to the stars.

"I went AWOL on my first mission after taking a hit that crippled my ship. Mason and his co-ordinators thought I was dead, so I stayed low for a couple of years trying to remember my real name, my family, friends, the life I had before I joined. I knew I was in danger so I had surgery. Eventually I began to remember."

Tanya's eyes widened as Travis continued, her mind reeling from what she feared Travis was about to say.

"I'm a 'volunteer' just like you," he said. "We're the last."

(cont'd)


	11. Chapter 11

Battleship Miramoto silently coasted through space, holding a position a dozen kilometres away from Deshima Station, Shikoku System.

It was a majestic sight, the huge array of dorsal and lateral fins spreading out from the capital ship, wings of fighters docking and taking-off every few minutes. The battleship was the pinnacle of Kusari military technology. Suddenly without warning, a fighter exploded in the midst of docking causing a huge fireball to erupt through the hangar bay and several levels above it. Men, shards of metal and various pieces of equipment blew out into the cold, unyielding space creating an expanding circle of force and debris.

Aboard the battleship, all was chaos. Alarm klaxons were piercing the corridors, smoke and flames were creeping along the decks and the screams of the injured and dying filled the air.

One week later

"By Kusari hells, it's clearly a Rheinland sabotage!" screamed a minister. The Kusari man was standing with his fist raised angrily and shaking in the air as he spoke. "The explosives used were Rheinland technology, traces of it were found in the hangar bay and adjacent decks. The fighter that docked with the Miramoto was a Banshee. The manifest indicated a Rheinland corporation as the owner of the ship. And the pilot, by Hiran. He was an ex-Rheinland Navy captain!"

He threw both hands above his head in frustration.

"Which part of 'Rheinland involvement' is unclear?" he demanded.

The council chamber based on New Tokyo was semi-circular in design. Twelve tiers rose above the main platform at the front of the chamber, each tier increasing in width. There were no empty seats, all one-hundred and twelve were taken for the first time in a hundred years. Of course, the topic was an important one and everybody wanted their say.

"Please, Akita-san. Your concerns were noted before our meeting," said Lord Takashi Akamoto. He looked much older since his return from Planet Hamburg. Beside him to his right sat his son, Kenji, still wearing the half-mask of metal and bore an expression of repressed anger and focus. To the senior man's left, sat a young Kusari woman. Her dark eyes gleamed as the various ministers had vented their anger in response to the bombing of the battleship. Her page-boy short hair was light and moved gently as she turned her head to observe each speaker.

"It is a well-known fact that records can be tampered with, ships purchased anonymously and unfortunately, weapons are too easy to acquire these days," continued Lord Akamoto. He shook his head and produced a white cloth, then proceeded to wipe his brow before placing it in his sleeve again. The minister stood up, his fist raised once more but not shaking.

"Lord Akamoto. With the greatest respect to one of our most honoured Kusari warriors. I acknowledge the fact you have a sympathy for the Rheinlanders. We of the council are aware of your peace treaty arranged a fortnight ago. We also are aware you attended a celebration on Rheinland territory."

A general murmuring began amongst the council and hushed whispers echoed throughout the chamber.

Akamoto sighed and smiled at the surprised minister.

"Yes. I visited Planet Hamburg two weeks ago, for their celebration of Night and Day. It is a glorious sight and reminisce of our own Victory Day that commemorates fallen soldiers in the Eighty-Years War. The Rheinlanders do not speak of the War. They are past the pain and have moved on, whilst we in Kusari, through Victory Day remember time and again how we won."

"Are you saying we should abolish Victory Day?" shouted the minister, swiftly followed by a chorus of boos and chants.

"No. I am saying if we are to cast blame on the Rheinlanders for attacking our battleships, let us first be sure of the evidence before we begin to celebrate a second Victory Day!" replied Akamoto forcefully. "And this time, we may not win!"

The council chamber was silent as they reflected on his words. Until now, the Emperor had not spoken. He was a man in his late forties, a sharp widow's peak and slightly larger than normal nose for a Kusari gave him a piercing, hawk-like look. His eyes surveyed the council as he listened to the various arguments riposted back and forth.

"Friends. We have no proof that Rheinland are to blame for the attack on our battleship," he said in a deep, powerful voice. The council hushed completely as they listened to their Emperor. "But this does not mean we should remain open to another attack. Double our forces at all jump gates into Kusari. Give the military more opportunity to scan all vessels. Any ship carrying explosives is to be quarantined until it's origin can be confirmed. My fellow Kusari, we are not enemies of Rheinland anymore. Remember that. The war is over."

The council nodded in response as one.

Kenji looked over to the girl who returned his cold gaze, then ran her tongue over her bottom lip suggestively. Kenji smiled, though his metallic face ended up more as a grimace.

Outside the council chamber, the various ministers and their companions were boarding their shuttles and skycabs to journey onto their next destination. Lord Akamoto was waiting outside looking up at the night sky when Kenji and the girl approached.

"Ah, my son. And Hideko, of course," he said nodding to the girl. "I am going on vacation now. I must return to Honshu and see your uncle. He does not have much longer now. Kenji. I leave you in charge of our operations. I trust you will manage them well. Hideko. Look after him, my dear," said Akamoto.

Kenji nodded then bowed. Hideko merely curtsied slightly, though her eyes were fixed on Akamoto's, something she had never done before. Akamoto was annoyed but ignored it. It was a while since Kenji had smiled and this strange silent girl had brought some happiness back into his life.

"Take good care of yourselves!" said Akamoto cheerfully. He turned round and walked onto his private shuttle. Moments later it was shooting upwards towards space.

Then exploded in a ball of flame.

On the ground, Hideko watched the exploding pieces of the shuttle cause chaos in the sky lanes as speeding vehicles flew into or around the falling debris.

"Are you sad, my love?" she asked Kenji, a curious gleam in her eye. The cyborg turned his red prosthetic eye and suddenly grabbed her waist using his robotic arm, pulling the girl closer to him.

"I want you. Now," he said gruffly and began to run his human hand over her back.

"Whatever you wish my love," she whispered. "My, Lord now," she said, a slow smile appearing but never reaching her eyes. Kenji kissed her deeply, then noticed a tattoo of stripes upon the side of her neck and a series of circular scars. He wanted to say something, but was lost in a haze of passion.

Tanya and Travis arrived in Liberty space after a week of travelling through independent systems. Tanya had bought a Falcon heavy fighter, Travis sold his ship and bought a humpback. They would be less suspicious if they travelled as mule and escort and given the increasing number of freelancers they would just one of many.

During their flight through Liberty, they found the jump gates to Kepler and Galileo blockaded by Liberty cruisers and dozen wings of Defenders.

"What's going on Travis?" asked Tanya. There was a growing queue of fighters, transports and freighters at the end of a trade lane nearest the jump gate.

"I don't know, babe. Let me find out," he replied. He targeted a Defender close by and hailed it.

"Freelancer, I don't have time to talk now," was the curt response. Lieutenant Jason Abrams was the pilot of this ship.

"Uh, Lieutenant Abrams. This is freelancer, alpha-zero-dash-zero-one. We're carrying expendable cargo in the form of luxury food. It's perishing fast. Can you tell me what the delay is about?"

"Freelancer, apologies for the inconvenience. A number of key ministers have been assassinated in Kusari, Bretonia, Rheinland and Liberty. We're scanning all traffic passing through the jump gates. You will just have to wait in line. Out."

Travis switched comm channels.

"You hear that, Tanya? I wonder who died to make everyone so jumpy. I haven't seen this number of cap-ships out since the end of the Nomad Wars."

Tanya bit her lip.

"Something is very wrong, Travis. That lieutenant said 'a number of key ministers' were assassinated. It sounds far too co-ordinated to be a coincidence. Somebody is trying to create tension. Start a war. Or at least, raise the stakes."

"Right. But whatever happens, we have to get to Kusari and take out those Blood Dragons. Without those monkeys off our backs we'll be able to move around more freely."

"You're an idiot, Travis. What on earth did you get into debt with them for?" she asked. The response was a long-time coming.

"Well. I started gambling and.."

"Ok stop. I don't want to know how someone with years of training and investment could find themselves in such a ridiculous position," replied Tanya in disgust.

Travis laughed.

"One of these days babe, you're gonna thank me."

"What for?" she asked incredulous and astonished as his cheek.

"For putting up with you!" he retorted. Before she could reply, he set a new waypoint. "Heading to Kepler jump hole. Come with. Or queue. Your choice."

Travis pulled his Humpback out of formation and engaged his cruise thrusters. Tanya cursed and joined him.

Two Outcast sabres floated powered-down twenty klicks from New Tokyo, hiding in the shadow of the planet.

"Is everything set?" asked one man in Hispanic.

"Yes. It is all ready. You may tell our people to begin."

The first man pressed a series of buttons on his control panel, then nodded when he heard a number of beeps in response.

"All our agents have completed their missions. The results were predictable. All traffic throughout the Sirius heartlands has been slowed and military forces in the border worlds and independent systems are being recalled for internal security."

His companion considered this for a few minutes.

"Then we are free to continue stage two. Tell the Don our mission is complete. Now, we take our revenge," he hissed.


	12. Chapter 12

"There it is," sighed Travis. "The House of Thousand Orchids."

The bounty hunter theatrically cast his arm aside, presenting the building to Tanya who waited impatiently next to him. The pair had landed on Shikoku Station two hours ago and only just left the docking bay terminus. The increased security tripled all entry and exit times, forcing them to arrive with minutes to spare at their arranged meeting. Tanya wanted to arrive much earlier so she could survey the area first and was annoyed at having to go in 'cold'.

"This is your fault, Travis," she chided. "If you hadn't tried to make a pass at that Immigation Officer, her colleague would have let us go by without problems. Try thinking with your HUD, not your Cannonball in future."

Travis shrugged.

"Babe. She had huge.." he began but was interrupted by a raised hand from Tanya.

"Wait. There they are. Perhaps ten altogether," she counted quickly. They were parked in a hired skycab opposite the massage parlour, observing the group leaving their convoy of vehicles and walking purposefully into the building. Tanya suddenly frowned and Travis chuckled.

"What's the matter, their dress sense wrong for the season?"

"Shush. Look there, that girl," said Tanya, pointing to a young Kusari woman in her early twenties. "Have you seen her before?"

Travis studied her for a few moments and watched the attractive girl walk up the steps slowly, her hips swaying as though in time to a song he couldn't hear. The split in her traditional dress revealed shapely toned legs. His eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Well, now I have seen her, perhaps I should try and see a little more of her, 'eh?" he said with a smirk.

Tanya sighed.

"That girl was with Kenji Akamoto at a ball. I've known Kenji for a couple years but I have never seen her before."

"You were at a ball?" asked Travis incredulously. "From government assassin to escort girl? And you tell me off for gambling?" Travis shook his head but fell silent under Tanya's withering glare.

"Just be quiet for a minute and let me finish," she demanded. "That girl is at least, an aide if not companion to a senior figure in one of the greatest bounty hunter clans in Sirius history. You should know the Akamoto Clan are in the top flight of combat pilots. She doesn't belong in a place like this."

Travis nodded but said nothing. Tanya continued.

"Kenji never mentioned her before."

"Jealous?"

Tanya punched him on the shoulder and he yelped in surprise.

"Idiot. I'm saying that I've never seen her before until his..return from captivity. You should remember that, at least," she hissed.

Travis looked away.

"Tanya, I'm sorry that ever happened okay? I didn't mean for you or your Kusari buddy to get hurt. Serious. I was just doing the job."

There was a pregnant silence as they both sat looking out of opposite windows lost in their thoughts. Tanya was the first to speak after several long minutes.

"Fine. I'm over it. But she is dangerous. There's something very wrong about her. I won't be in there with you, so watch her, okay?"

"When you say wrong, you mean, she moves like an assassin, right?" he asked, a slight twitch at his left eye betraying minute signs of nervousness.

"Well, perhaps not an assassin. Not like us. Like we were. But at least she's trained, or enhanced. Or on drugs. I don't know!" sighed Tanya. "Just be careful. She's an unknown element and that's enough to make me cautious."

"You're paranoid, girl," laughed Travis. "I'll be fine. I'd better make tracks before I'm more than fashionably late."

They held each other's gaze for a moment and Tanya felt a rush of blood to her head and heart miss a beat. She coughed and fidgeted with her comm controls.

"I'll be up on the building here. I can track you through the transmitter you swallowed. The multi-imaging device will do the rest, if there's trouble."

Travis looked over his shoulder at the butt of a long-rifled weapon resting on the back seat, partially wrapped in a dark material.

"I hope that thing is worth the money," he said. "We may need to pick up some Engine Components if we ever pass by Magellan again."

Travis got out the sky cab.

"Tanya?"

He looked inside at Tanya once more before closing the door.

"Yes?"

"Keep those beautiful green eyes on me."

Travis closed the door and ran across the street to The House of Thousand Orchids.

The interior of The House of Thousand Orchids was orchestrated debauchery and carnage at best. Pure unadulterated primal passion at worst. Travis grinned as he saw a number of patrons and customers doing what can only be described as "bad things" with escort girls often half their age. Pumping music echoed throughout the lounge, punctuated only by occasional squeals of deligh. The lights were filtered dark-red providing the lounge with a sense of surrealism.

Travis saw the Blood Dragon clan leader he was looking for. It didn't take long, 'Antoine' as he preferred to be known as, was seated at the largest and clearly most prestigious table at the back of the lounge, his entourage now doubled from the arrival of several courtesans.

The bounty hunter smiled to himself as he considered his meeting. Antoine, a half-Kusari and Liberty Blood Dragon clan leader, who virtually had forsaken his Kusari roots and religious beliefs to indulge in 'foreign' pleasures. Travis and Tanya could be doing the Kusari world a favour. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

He approached the table, sub-consciously licking his lips when the Kusari girl that Tanya pointed out earlier noticed and turned to face him. Her dark-brown eyes focused on his own and she lowered her head slightly as he stood before the table. Travis wondered what she was looking at but turned his attention back to Antoine and waited for him to notice his arrival. One of Antoine's guards tapped the clan leader lightly on the shoulder and spoke softly into his ear.

"Antoine. I'm Travis Carter. Remember me?" said Travis in an even, measured tone. "I'm back. With your money," Travis produced a cred-stick and placed it on the table.

The clan leader looked up then with several quick 'shoo-ing' hand motions dismissed the girls crawling over their table until only he, the girl and his guards remained.

"So. The White Tiger returns. Please, sit. Have a drink."

Travis glanced around quickly. There were seven guards, all with their hands under the jackets waiting for a kill order. The girl was seated next to Antoine. Before he could react, two more men appeared behind him and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. A chair was brought for him and sat, reluctantly.

"I don't have a lot of time to spare," began Travis. "Let's just get this over and done with. Give me a cred-stick I can.."

"Forgive me if I take my time, Mr Carter," interrupted Antoine. He laughed, a sickly, staccato sound. To Travis' relief he heard Tanya's cool, lilting voice in his ear.

"Relax, hotshot. You've been in worse situations than this. Listen to what he says, pay him, then leave. He's only toying with you."

"Nice of you to empathise with him so well, babe," he sub-vocalised a reply.

"Fine. One drink," he said aloud and nodded in thanks as the girl poured what appeared to be wine into a small cup. He raised it. "To better times." And drank it.

"So tell me, Mr Travis. What has a rogue like you been up to recently? Killed anyone? Like a minister perhaps?" asked Antoine. His eyes had a deadly gleam to them.

Travis returned his gaze coolly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Antoine. I heard that a couple of senior people had been killed, it's what caused my delay. Fracking immigration delays and security."

"I see, I see. Perhaps I'm not being clear enough. You killed Lord Takashi Akamoto."

"What? What are you talking about? I was three systems away at the time it happened!" said Travis rising, but strong hands clamped onto his shoulders forcing him down into his chair again.

"Yes, yes. It's all clear. You see, the fingerprints you have kindly supplied to us," Antoined smiled as the girl using a gloved hand deftly plucked the cup Travis set down off the table and placed it into a bag. "Will identify you as a freelancer killer. You were responsible for killing one of the most beloved of our warriors. A decorated man. An honourable man."

"A dead man," whispered the girl, who spoke for the first time. Bemused, she watched Travis who's face was now a picture of horror.

"So, Mr Travis. You have nowhere to hide. We will have our people at the Kusari Navy merely use your prints and DNA as evidence to prove you were responsible. Then you will be executed. And no-one will ever know."

"Know what?" Travis asked drowsily. He put his hand on the table to steady himself as sudden nausea gripped him.

"That the Outcasts will prevail as we have planned to for many years now," said Antoine coldly.

"You're..an Outcast?" asked Travis slipping into unconsciousness. Antoine laughed.

"Yes! Mr Carter. We all are now! Cardamine is the elixir of Elysium. And the Outcasts are our new gods. Worship them."

"Or perish," said the girl, now standing over Travis. She kissed him. Travis whispered but was losing control of his senses and couldn't speak very loudly.

"Did he say something?" asked Antoine. The girl leaning over Travis nodded.

"Something like 'she's coming'," repeated the girl.

Antoine stood for a moment, his face impassive. Then burst out into laughter the rest of his comrades joining him.

(cont'd)


	13. Chapter 13

Tanya eased her way down the fire escape ladder at the side of the building she had positioned herself on.

Her rooftop location provided her with a clear view of the brothel and assisted by the multi-imaging sight, Travis was clearly marked as an outline mainly in red and orange, with a deep green pulsing sphere at the centre of his abdomen. There were many other outlines, some more red than orange and Tanya frowned as she realised the people she was observing were probably deep in the throes of passion.

She counted at least twenty to thirty warm bodies in the room apart from Travis, but was surprised to see one outline was deeply tinged with blue, purple and grey.

"Cold colours," said Tanya to herself. "Cyborg," she concluded and adjusted her scope to give greater clarity for low-heat emissions. The rifle she had firmly rested against shoulder was a high-calibre sniper rifle, that fired depleted-uranium rounds at over a thousand feet per second. The refire rate wasn't high, but the damage was significant, capable of blowing a large hole in the side of a skycab, or even a light fighter.

Tanya laughed inside, as she recalled Travis' reaction on seeing the weapon for the first time. He dubbed it "The Replacement" and only smirked when Tanya asked him what it was a replacement for.

She nodded when she heard Travis engage Antoine in conversation and listened intently to their exchange. Tanya wasn't surprised when Antoine mentioned his plan to frame the bounty hunter but nothing could hold her feelings back when she heard of Lord Akamoto's death.

Gripping the hilt of the rifle tightly, she aimed the gun at the man she presumed was Antoine, the only one whose rapid hand movements were aligned with the quick speech of his voice.

She gently depressed the trigger and prepared to fire as she saw Travis fall from his chair, then suddenly released it.

"I'm coming, Travis. Hold on," she said into her comm.

She turned it off to the sounds of laughter from Antoine and his entourage, then began packing up her equipment.

"So, boss. What do we do with him?" asked a well-muscled Kusari man in his late twenties. The tight jacket he wore was too small for him and his shoulders were hunched up and forward. Antoine turned to face him, a dark smile appearing on his handsome face.

"Tie him up, put him in the basement and leave him there. The police will arrive soon. They will find him. We will be rewarded for his capture with a healthy bounty. Then we can tell our superiors the mission is complete and live a life of luxury on an Orbital Spa & Cruise planet!"

Antoine laughed again and his companions joined him.

Travis was roughly lifted from the ground and hauled over the big man's shoulder, then carried to a door at the rear of the lounge. Travis could only mumble uncontrollably as the drugs laced in his drink took effect.

Tanya waited outside The House of Thousand Orchids, her rifle was back in the hired skycab and her only weapons were the two pistols holstered in the lining of her jacket. As they weren't able to find blasters in the short time they had been on the planet, she hoped no-one was wearing any force field generators or armour jackets, else the simple kinetic weapons would be useless.

She took a deep breath, then walked up the steps to the front door, an elaborate double door with mock pillars to the sides and a large stone across the frame.

"How's this for a 'cold' entry?" she asked herself through a grimace. Tanya tied her long blonde hair back into a ponytail and smiled as she approached the two door guards. Both looked menacing and almost as one, creased their faces into a sneer as they saw her approach.

"Hey, boys. What's a girl have to do to get a drink around here?" she asked, smiling sweetly. "I'm new on-planet and I was told this was a good place to visit."

The two men glanced at each other and grinned.

"Take your clothes off and if you meet the standard you'll get your drink," said one gruffly, a pock-marked scowled brute with short hair and a thick, oft-broken nose.

"Out here? It's so cold," said Tanya, pouting ever so slightly. "I know, you're only kidding. So, can I get a drink or should I go some place else?"

One of the men chuckled, it was a horrible sound, Tanya thought.

"Okay, come with me inside," he replied. He winked at the other doorman.

"Hey, be sure and tell me when you're done, buddy," he said.

Tanya followed the first man into the brothel and was swallowed up in a cacophony of sound, scents and sights. She glanced around and the lounge was in a large oval shape, bar to one side, stage on the opposite and at the back were a series of raised booths and accompanying tables. In the centre near the stage was a small dance floor and behind those were numerous round tables of varying sizes.

The man walked over to the bar where Tanya joined him. She glanced at the barman who was studying her with a curious eye, then raised an eyebrow at the doorman.

"Drink," he said in monotone. The barman responded and poured a drink from a clear glass bottle and placed it before Tanya on the bar. She smiled at them both, then lifted the shot glass and downed the drink in one.

"Not bad. So do I get a tour of this place? It's real nice," said Tanya.

"Sure, sure. Let's go. This way," he said and moved off towards a door at the end of the bar. Tanya took a step forwards but suddenly lost her footing and placed a hand on the bar to steady herself. Her other hand came up to her forehead.

"Whoa. Must be the heat," she said. "Is it me or is it warm in here?" she asked. The barman nodded..

"Take your jacket off if you're hot, lady," he suggested.

"Good idea." Tanya shrugged off her jacket revealing a tight grey top that stopped at her shoulders, revealing shapely toned arms, the colour of burnished bronze. She carried the jacket in one hand and followed the doorman slightly unsteadily. He opened the door and began to walk down a flight of steps to a gloomy looking basement.

"That's..dark," she slurred.

The doorman noticed her about to fall and quickly ran back up the steps to catch her as she fell forwards. Laughing he half carried, half dragged Tanya down the steps, along a dimly lit corridor and into a room. He kicked open the door and dumped Tanya on the bed on top of her jacket, using his foot to shut the door behind him. The doorman looked Tanya up and down, grunting his approval at her lithe figure.

He moved closer to her and began to run his hands over her body, when Tanya began to mumble something. He moved a bit closer to hear what she was saying.

"Did anyone tell you, anti-drug suppressants take too long to become active?" she whispered.

The doorman's eyes opened in shock as he felt the cold steel of a gun barrel prod into the side of his head.

"Up, buddy. Slowly," she hissed and the doorman carefully rose to his feet. His breath stank of stale alcohol and Tanya was relieved to have some distance between them.

"Where is he? The bounty hunter you have in the basement," she asked.

"Him? What do you want him for?" asked the doorman. Tanya hit him with the butt of her gun making the man fall to his knees.

"I don't like violence. It's only ever a last resort. But for once I may just enjoy this. Where is Travis?" she asked again more forcefully this time.

"He's in the room at the end," replied the doorman rubbing the side of his head painfully.

"Thank you," she replied curtly and hit him again, harder this time at the base of the neck causing the man to fall unconscious to the floor. Tanya quickly put on her jacket and searched the doorman, finding a key card, a gun, an incredibly large knife and a cred-stick. Pocketing them all bar the gun which she held in her hand, she left the room and walked to the room at the end of the corridor.

Tanya placed her ear to the door and listened for a moment. It was silent.

She tried the key card and smiled when a satisfying click came from the lock mechanism, then she opened the door.

Travis was inside, bound and gagged but awake. Clearly the disabling drug was powerful only for a short duration and no doubt the reason why the anti-drug suppressant she had taken before entering the brothel had taken a while to take effect. Tanya ran over to him and using the knife cut his bonds allowing Travis to free his mouth from the gag.

"Took your time, babe," he said with a half-smile.

Tanya sighed.

"Here, use this," she said and offered Travis the doorman's gun. He raised an eyebrow and Tanya frowned. "Look, it's better than nothing, okay? Let's go, that doorman is expected back soon."

Together, they left the room and made their way along the corridor and up the steps to the main lounge where Tanya opened the door slightly looking out beyond. Before they ran out, Tanya turned back to Travis.

"Let me go first and get the skycab ready, you'll have to exit best you can."

Travis nodded.

"Easy, sugar-cakes. Have the engine hot."

Tanya was about to open the door fully when she felt Travis' hand on her arm.

"Hey, Tanya?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Travis."

Tanya held his gaze and slowly moved closer. Their lips met and they kissed without passion, but with a deep longing. She broke away after a while, watching his face.

"You are such a rogue," she said smiling. He nodded.

"Uh-huh. Now get out there, girl. We'll have to take out Antoine another day."

Tanya froze, her eyes darkened, the malicious gleam Travis saw before when she threatened to kill him now returning.

"Why not now?" she suggested coldly, reaching behind her and drawing both her pistols, cocking back the hammers before replacing them in their hidden holsters.

Before Travis could react, Tanya barged open the door and strode across the lounge towards Antoine who was now sat back at his table surrounded by people once more. The young Kusari girl next to him saw her approach and stiffened slightly, then she rose and swiftly left the table. Tanya ignored her.

Antoine looked up as Tanya stood before his table, her guns behind her back. By the steps, Travis watched in stunned amazement, but chambered a round into his pistol in preparation.

"Antoine?" asked Tanya, her green eyes gleaming brightly now. Antoine looked up, his guards had their hands under their jackets ready to draw.

"Yes? Who are you?"

Tanya didn't verbally reply, instead bringing both guns from behind her quicker than anyone else could react, firing with deadly precision at Antoine and his guards. Empty shells fell to the ground by her feet as she unloaded both guns into the mass before her, a terrible grimace appearing on her face. Clients and prostitutes alike scattered, running screaming to find cover.

One guard managed to avoid the initial onslaught, drawing a gun and firing at Tanya. She was already moving, throwing herself to her left and firing the last of her rounds at the guard, bullets punching home into his chest forcing him back to crash on the table behind.

She rose quickly to her feet but a movement to her left caught her attention and dropping the empty guns she reached behind her, spun on her heel drawing the doorman's knife and sent it hurtling through the air at her new assailant. The second doorman fell to the floor, scrabbling at the knife now embedded in his throat. Suddenly, a few shots were fired from behind her and she jerked reflexively. Tanya turned and saw Travis, smoking gun in hand aimed at the barman who was now lying slumped across the bar, a shotgun next to him.

Antoine lay dead in his booth, surrounded by the bodies of his guards. Smoke filled the lounge and people were still running in every direction seeking refuge. It was a surreal sight, as music still pumped through the speakers. Travis joined Tanya at the booth, saying nothing but staring at the open, blank eyes of Antoine.

"You and I need to talk," said Travis grimly.

"We should go," she replied distantly.

They made to leave but stopped in their tracks when a large group of people entered the room from the front door.

Amongst them was the Kusari girl. Next to her was a squad of Kusari police in body armour carrying rifles.

"Guess we lost the element of surprise, babe," said Travis through gritted teeth. When Tanya didn't respond, he glanced at her, noticing how still she was.

"Tanya? You ok?"

At the head of the group was someone Tanya hoped to never see.

Kenji Akamoto, now Lord of the Akamoto bounty hunter clan.

(cont'd)


	14. Chapter 14

"So. Who are you and what happened here?" asked Lord Kenji Akamoto.

His replacement cybernetic eye eerily swivelled to match the movement of his one real eye as he gazed upon Tanya, then Travis in turn. With a slight motion of his hand, the squad of Kusari Police officers fanned out in a semi-circle and trained their weapons on the pair. The young Kusari girl that Tanya suspected was a cyborg, stood a little behind Kenji smiling and wearing arrogance like a cloak.

Both Tanya and Travis stood still, hands hanging loosely at their sides. The music pumping from the speakers ceased, creating an unnatural silence in the lounge.

"Well? Answer me damn you! Your situation does not look good, two 'gaijin' in a brothel and at the scene of a mass murder. Your story should be a good one!" shouted Kenji.

Tanya merely held his gaze, wondering at what point Kenji would recognise her. Her appearance had changed somewhat, she had put on a little weight though it was mostly toned muscle and her hair was now blonde, she hadn't opted for facial reconstruction surgery because she had assumed no-one else knew she was still alive. Travis, almost reading her thoughts attempted a distraction.

"It was self-defence," said Travis. He took a step forwards with his hands out glancing around occasionally. "I came to Kusari to pay off a debt and was attacked."

Kenji leant his head slightly towards the girl at his side, who whispered quickly in response, never taking her eyes off Tanya and Travis.

"Hideko here, says you lie. She says you attacked the man and his friends sat over there, to avoid paying your debt!" hissed Kenji.

"I am a bounty hunter. I would not lie to you," replied Travis. "I'm telling you the truth, I swear it. I only came here to pay a debt."

"A fellow hunter, hmm? Tell me, who do you work for?" demanded Kenji.

"No-one. I'm a freelancer."

"Ronin," spat the Kusari. "You answer to no-one, you kill for money and you have no honour."

"I have honour," replied Travis. Tanya noticed the edge of anger creeping into his voice. "But you're right, I kill for money and I answer to no-one."

"Good. I like your spirit. You will do well in our gladiatorial games," said Kenji without emotion. "Take him away and put him on the next shuttle to Sigma-19."

At his command, two officers slung their rifles and came forwards, and grabbing Travis by the arms pinning them to his sides.

"You can't do this! It was self-defence!" he yelled while struggling futilely against his captors. He looked back at Tanya who stood silently watching the scene unfold. Tanya looked ready to take a step in his aid but Travis shook his head ever so slightly. This was not the right time or place. The guards led Travis out of the brothel and out into the night, leaving Kenji, Hideko and four other officers remaining with Tanya.

She had never heard of any kind of gladiatorial contest in Sirius, or at least a legal blood sport. Was this the twisted result of Kenji's coming to power? Or something else? Tanya quelled her curiosity quickly as Kenji focused his attention on her. She would need to think quickly to avoid further complications. Her only leverage, was that the cyborg named Hideko was not present in the room when Tanya killed Antoine and his guards.

"How are you involved in this?" asked Kenji. He took several steps forward, closely watched by his guards that moved in parallel with him.

Tanya coughed and spoke in her best Bretonian accent.

"I only met him today, at the spaceport," she ventured. "He offered to buy me a drink and said he'd show me the sights. I've never been to this planet before."

Kenji raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"You're from Bretonia?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Cambridge."

"Cambridge," repeated Kenji. "I knew someone from Cambridge a long time ago."

Tanya said nothing and merely bit her lip looking downwards. Kenji watched her with incredible intensity.

"Men, take her away for further questioning."

Another pair of guards came forwards to take Tanya by the arms and firmly, but more gently than how Travis was treated, led her outside too. Hideko watched her as she left though Tanya didn't return the gaze, keeping her eyes averted downwards.

Moments after Tanya left the brothel, Hideko looked at Kenji with slitted eyes, the beautiful olive face framed by dark bob of hair that shimmered in the neon lights of the lounge.

"What's the matter, my love?" she asked.

Kenji stood in the doorway watching the Bretonian girl being bundled into a waiting car. He caught a glance from her that could have meant anything, then the door was closed and the vehicle moved away.

"She looks very familiar. I am sure I have seen her somewhere before."

Hideko's glare in response was chilling.

Tanya was lost in thought in the back of the police car. It was a standard hover vehicle, similar in design to a skycab, but possessing an armoured skin, extra sensor equipment and probably a more powerful engine. She heard the door mechanism locking into place and couldn't see any means of opening it from the inside. Besides, she had no inclination of opening the doors at this height and de-pressurising her compartment would be suicide.

They were definitely moving upwards and had been doing so for at least twenty minutes, Tanya strained to see past the opaque windows but only caught glimpses of light. She was concerned about the increasing altitude, only spaceports and planetary defence systems were ever built at this level.

'Spaceports!' thought Tanya. If she could acquire a ship, she could escape the police and track down Travis.

She laughed to herself.

Kenji said the gladiatorial games were in Sigma-19. Strange how things can be, coming almost full circle. The day her new life began was when her wing of Orbital Air & Spa ships left Luxury Liner Hawaii and the secret of her past began to unravel. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Tanya's eyes closed and the weight of her experiences came flooding to the fore almost taking her to the brink of despair.

The police vehicle began to level out and decelerate, soon landing with a soft bump. The left door opened and a uniformed Kusari officer peered inside, frowning when he saw the red-rimmed eyes of the woman inside.

"Come, miss. You will not be hurt. Lord Akamoto has orders that you are to be treated with care, as a guest. Not a prisoner," said the man in heavily accented Common.

Tanya glanced up and nodded. She gingerly stepped out of the vehicle and followed the uniformed man across the enclosed launch pad. A huge screen of transparent material had been erected over the huge square spaceport launch pad, protecting the crews and passengers from the strong, cold, biting winds coursing around them.

The officer led her along the causeway to a single, large building at the centre. Tanya presumed it was some kind of docking terminal and control station. She sniffed back her tears and resolutely held her head high. If there was a way out, it would be here.

Tanya waited inside a windowless, dark grey room for over an hour. No-one came to see her, apart from one junior officer who brought in some water in a plastic cup and some sweet bread on a plastic plate. Clearly, they didn't trust her.

She had been studying her surroundings for some time and realised this room was very secure indeed. There was only one way in and out, several tiny cameras hidden in each corner between ceiling and wall. The table was bolted into the floor and the chairs were made of light plastic and quite flexible. No wonder she hadn't been handcuffed, there was simply no need. Tanya closed her eyes and thought of her situation, hoping the forged ID she had bought weeks before would satisfy whatever background checks Kenji would perform.

Suddenly voices were outside her door and she took a deep breath.

The door opened and Kenji stood in the frame. Her Kusari friend looked very different from their time on the Hawaii. Half of his face was covered with a metal plate, some scar tissue probably from the result of a serious burn injury remained uncovered on the rest of his face. His jet black raven hair now had a single white streak down through the centre, starting at his forehead and ending at the back of his skull. Tanya gasped when she noticed Kenji's right hand, it was completely cybernetic and the metal shone brightly under the room lights.

He walked inside slowly and behind came two guards. Hideko was nowhere to be seen, though Tanya assumed she was monitoring via the cameras somewhere.

Kenji unbuttoned his dark jacket and sat in the chair opposite Tanya, never taking his eyes off hers for an instant.

"Guards. Leave us," he ordered. The two men still standing hesitated and looked at each other questioningly. "Well? What are you still doing here?"

They left quickly and marched out closing the door behind them. Tanya could see their shadows in the gap between the door and ground, they hadn't gone too far. She was surprised at Kenji's next command though.

"Hideko. Sign off all communications to this room."

A pause.

"Yes. I do. Now sign off. I will be very angry if I have to walk over to the control room and do it myself!" Kenji hissed.

There was another pause, then Kenji nodded and removed a tiny comm link from his ear connected to a transmitter somewhere in his clothing. He leaned forwards watching Tanya's green eyes closely.

"It has been a long time, Tanya" he said evenly.

Tanya did her best not to register any shock, though her mind reeled from his opening statement. When she replied, she was surprised at herself for keeping her voice steady too.

"I don't know who you're talking about. My name is Evelyn. Evelyn O'Callaghan from Cambridge, Bretonia. I'm a trader for BMM, though I sometimes work for IMG. I have not spoken to anyone for an hour and have been held captive here without permission. I demand to be released immediately!"

Kenji said nothing and just stared. Suddenly he laughed, a terrible, deafening sound that seemed to reverberate around the room and clapped his hands theatrically. Kenji leant back in his chair.

"Wonderful! Wonderful. A great performance. You always were the kidder. The one who 'understood' people," he said through narrowed eyes.

Tanya suddenly felt a little afraid, but merely shrugged her shoulders and stared straight back at him.

"I do not know what you're talking about. My name is-"

"Yes, yes. Whatever. Evelyn. Tanya. I don't care. I remember your face. I remember your eyes. Orbital Spa? Corsairs? Remember?"

Kenji's voice rose in pitch to a feverish height. His metallic hand clamped down on the edge of the table and Tanya saw an indentation in the metal surface as Kenji squeezed. She decided enough was enough, when she spoke her voice was resolute and clear, though anguished.

"Yes, I remember. You were in the vanguard," she began. "You were ambushed. You disappeared. I tried to come back and find you but I was kidnapped too. I am sorry, Kenji. I missed you so much," said Tanya choking back her tears. Her words came out as one long stream.

"So. You are her. I thought so. Your eyes are too beautiful and betray you, Tanya," said Kenji in a way Tanya remembered him from before. The moment passed as soon as it came. "But that time is gone. I am the leader of my clan. I am responsible for policing certain systems and today, Travis Carter committed a terrible crime, murder of a Kusari citizen!"

Tanya shook her head swiftly.

"No, it's not like that," she urged.

"Silence!" shouted Kenji. "He was not authorised to execute Antoine and his men. He had not registered for a bounty. In fact, our checks conclude Travis has rescinded his bounty hunter tag a month ago."

A month ago, thought Tanya. That would mean shortly after leaving Tau.

"And the penalty for such terrible acts is a lifetime fighting in the arenas of Sigma-19!" Kenji looked triumphant.

"That's a death sentence," whispered Tanya.

"Yes, it is," he hissed in reply. "But you. What do I do with you? You should have come back for me, Tanya. Why didn't you come back? The Corsairs came, they took me." Kenji trembled, his metal hand now dug deeper into the table. "They did..things to me. For months."

"What happened?" asked Tanya, almost too scared to know herself. Kenji closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, as though remembering some awful pain he'd since forgotten.

"They tortured me. But my father paid a ransom. A huge ransom. He virtually halved our family fortune and sold off several assets. So the Corsairs let me go. After they had taken a souvenir." He glanced down at his right arm that hummed and clicked in response as he moved each finger in turn.

"You said you're leading the clan, is your father alright?" asked Tanya.

"Yes. I lead. And my father is in heaven, foolish old man. He should have negotiated a better deal for me. I put him out of his misery. He would be no use to the clan with his pathetic attempts at trying to ally with the Rheinlanders. They hate us. We hate them. It is the way of things. He was senile to think that would change. With me as leader, we can rebuild our strength and be more powerful than before! Then we can put Rheinland of their misery too"

Tanya said nothing but her eyes widened as she considered Kenji's words. Patricide? Power? Hate and death on a regional scale? What had Kenji become?

"I see you do not approve of my methods. Well, woman. I do not care. You are nothing to me now. But do not fear. I will not hurt you, as you were a friend to me at least in the early days. I will never forgive you for not coming to help me, but that is for your own conscience to live with. Leave."

Kenji stood up. Tanya only sat, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Kenji, I came for you. I did. I truly did-"

"Silence! I've heard enough. Just go. I never want to see or hear from you again."

Tanya blinked. She slowly stood up, using her hands as support on the table. Kenji replaced his ear comm and barked several orders. He watched her with cold, emotionless eyes but turned away when she came towards him, hands outstretched trying to touch his face. The door opened and after minutes of walking down winding corridors, Tanya was led to a comm-terminal in the reception of the building. The guards walked back inside the main corridor and sealed the door shut, leaving her alone.

For a few moments, Tanya did nothing but take deep gulps of air and attempt to clear her head.

Life is better when it's simple, she told herself. So keep it simple.

Several systems away in Dresden, an armoured transport with it's escorts of Falcons and Hawks was cruising through space approaching its next waypoint. On the bridge of the transport, a white and blue uniformed officer strode up to address a man sat in a large chair who was looking at reports on a screen. His light, hazel hair reflected off the many dozens of lights emanating from dashboards and control panels.

"Sir. A message for you," said the officer curtly and handed the small comm-pad to his superior.

The young man read it, closed his eyes leaning his head back, then opened them and read it again. Suddenly, he stood up from his chair, the men on the bridge surprised by this activity.

"Men, turn our ships around! Set a course for Honshu, immediately!" he ordered.

"But sir, your father has ordered we make best time for Freital, we're only-"

"Do I need to repeat my orders, Commander?" said the young man. The officer shook his head. "Good. Set course and let's get there yesterday!"

He felt the ship move in response as his men raced to plot their new co-ordinates, then grinned from ear-to-ear when he read the message again.

_"Rutger. It's Eve. I need you. Come to Honshu."_


	15. Chapter 15

"Wait, let me try and understand," began the young nobleman.

His shoulders were sagging slightly as he spoke and he seemed to be quite bewildered as he spoke, gathering his thoughts whilst voicing them.

"Your real name is not Evelyn, it is Tanya. You are a freelance trader now, but you used to be a house government assassin. When we met on Hamburg you were meeting an old contact to arrange for false identities. And now, you ask my help to track down a friend of yours in Sigma-19? At a gladiatorial arena?"

The young man's voice rose slightly in pitch as he finished and his eyes widened incredulous. The sandy hair usually combed so immaculately looked unkempt and untidy, dark rings had formed around his eyes indicating signs of tiredness. The young man's uniform too was crumpled in places, it took a huge effort from his crew to make best speed from the Omega systems this far galactic north in the colonies and sleep escaped him since he received her message.

"Rutger, please. Listen to me carefully," Tanya replied. She was torn between telling him of her harsh reality or maintain her alter ego, but decided the Daumann heir deserved to know the truth. "I could not deceive you any longer. I trust you which is why I'm telling you all this. You're the only one I can turn to for help now."

The young man shook his head confused. They were both sat in his private cabin, a plush multi-roomed area of an equally luxurious Daumann armoured transport. Screens and monitors filled the room, as well as expensive and rare antiques and furniture.

"I don't know if I can trust you, though..Tanya," he hesitated before saying her name, it felt so alien to him. Evelyn had vanished as part of an even more incredible tale.

"You can, nothing has changed. I still think you're wonderful," continued the girl. Surprise took her when she realised she genuinely meant what she said. "But I must do this, Travis is my, friend. He's almost a relative. I would say he's the closest thing I have to family now," she admitted, recalling their shared origins.

"So this Travis, he's not your..partner?" asked Rutger, a glimmer of hope returning.

"No, Rutger. He's more like a brother, I realise that now. But he's in great danger. And not just him. If what my instincts tell me are true, a great many people in Sirius are in danger too. Did you hear of the bombings?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied gravely. "Almost every senior representative of the Rheinland military or government had their life threatened in some way. Even my father was severely injured, had it not been for the bravery of his bodyguards who had sacrificed themselves for the sake of our house," Rutger said sadly, he cut his tale short then looked away out of a porthole gazing at the white line of stars as they sped along a trade lane.

"Tell me," said Tanya softly. "What happened?"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but my father, the Baron, his armoured transport was ambushed near Freital Station. He was doing a routine inspection of some mining machinery when a group of heavy fighters accompanied by other ships mounting torpedoes few straight out of a nearby dust cloud. They had little time to react and within moments, most of the escort ships were destroyed or crippled and my fathers transport had taken heavy fire," Rutger sighed. "Fighting in space is terrible, Tanya. Death is a certainty."

Tanya nodded in response but said nothing, waiting for the Daumann heir to continue.

"In the end, the bombers launched a volley of torpedoes to finish off my father's vessel, just as her cruise engines were powering up. The remaining two escort ships fired on the torpedoes and ultimately, activated the self-destructs on their ships - the blast radius detonating the last of the torpedoes. It was very brave. And allowed my father to escape, although during the battle some equipment detached and struck him. He will not live much longer, the physicians have told me his lung was pierced by a shard of metal, the wound deep and internal."

Rutger's eyes filled but he was determined not lose face before the striking woman sat opposite him, his brown eyes fixed on her own of deep green.

"Rutger, I'm so sorry," said Tanya comfortingly, she leaned in closer and embraced the Daumann heir, who for a few moments did not respond and merely sat there, but soon returned the embrace, his back heaving as he sobbed uncontrollably. She felt a thousand times worse. This young man travelled the length of the colonies to help Evelyn, not her. An illusion she had created for her own needs. He had forsaken the last few moments with his dying father for her. And she felt rotten for it.

He looked up almost reading her thoughts.

"Tanya, do not concern yourself for me," he began with more resolve. "The doctors tell me they have prescribed my father many painkillers, he will live out his remaining days in peace and remains unconscious most of the time. Clearly a conspiracy of some sort is being directed here. But the important issue now is to learn who is behind the bombings, and stop them!"

The young woman was slightly taken aback by the feral intensity of his gaze. Perhaps this was Rutger's way of dealing with his grief and emotions.

"Yes. Whoever it is has a system-wide reach, or at least a network capable of co-ordinating such a massive and deliberate strike. It would take a huge amount of planning, resources and patience. I thought initially it might be the Corsairs, but they tend to use pure aggression and mass battles to win their prizes. This is something more sinister, careful and ruthless."

For a while, the pair merely looked at each other and as one, they chorused their realisation together.

"Outcasts!"

Sigma-19, low orbit above Planet Hiran, Orbital Spa & Cruise Luxury Liner Hawaii.

"Tanya, are you sure about this? From what you tell me, there's a strong chance you will be recognised and that would put everything we discussed in jeopardy," said Rutger.

The young woman shrugged.

"It's been over a year since I was last here. Most ships like this have a high turnaround of passengers and crew alike. I should know, I used to be one of them," she replied smiling.

"Well, I'm still not sure. It could be dangerous," Rutger said, immediately feeling foolish and over-protective. Who was the highly-trained house assassin that has survived so well on her own for her recent years?

Tanya laughed. It was a beautiful sound, Rutger decided.

"Rutger, I will be fine. I can take care of myself. But say I heed your advice. What do you propose instead?" her head leant slightly to one side and the accompanying pout and grin gave her an impish look of mischief. Rutger coughed and looked upwards in thought.

"I will go," he said finally. Tanya's assured look gave way to an expression of horror.

"No way!"

"Now who's being protective, hmm?" chided the Daumann heir.

"I'm serious. Say the gladiatorial fights are being held on the Hawaii. Then a lot of influential and wealthy people will be present also, probably the ones least likely you would invite home for supper, given their penchant for blood sports." She let her words sink into the young man. "And these people will have bodyguards. Probably a small army of some kind. Probably the best ships too. And pilots."

Rutger stared at her, then stood up and paced around his cabin. He walked over to his desk where he saw a portrait of his family and picked up a trophy of some kind, Tanya noticed it had wings on it. Rutger placed the trophy back on his desk and returned to the couch where she sat.

"Then that is what we will do. We must act like these people. Become these people," suggested Rutger.

Tanya grinned.

"You're a genius!" she remarked, taking his head in both hands and kissing his forehead. "It would be the only way to penetrate their inner circle and learn more of the Outcasts and their plans. You could do this. The one fact remains, if we suspect the Outcasts are responsible for the bombings they would need assistance from key members in each of the Houses. That's the only way they could attack so deep at the heart of the colonies, jump gate controls, schedules, travel itineraies, loadout and escort information. I would say this would be the ideal meeting place for all parties concerned, wouldn't you?"

Rutger nodded.

"Yes. The Hawaii would be a great location for such a meeting, it is out of the way in the Border Worlds, close to known pirate routes and neatly positioned close to trade lanes and Honshu for more 'legitimate' guests," he said. "I could pretend to be-"

Tanya interrupted him.

"Pretend nothing. You 'are' the heir of Baron Daumann, of Daumann Heavy Industries. You have every right to be on the Hawaii. You are powerful, influential and wealthy. The perfect sort of clientele for such an event. A young heir, curiosity aroused at hearing rumours of a once outlawed sport resurrected? Just the sort of place you 'should' be seen at!" whispered Tanya.

Rutger leaned in slightly closer, until his face was inches away from hers.

"You said wealthy men had bodyguards?" he asked. Tanya nodded, then moved herself even closer to him, noting the handsome face lined by recent worries, now bearing a stoic resolution not present when they first met before.

"I would say you're a one-woman army," he continued. "There is a vacancy in this area. Would you like the job?" asked Rutger softly, voice hoarse and rough with longing.

"Whatever you wish, my Baron," responded Tanya, closing her eyes and kissing the young heir on the lips. His hand came up and stroked her now auburn hair away from her face, before reaching around her neck. They kissed for a while enjoying the contact, before Rutger broke away and smiled at Tanya.

"You just want me for my money," he said. She returned his smile, lips glistening.

"No, I have plenty of money," she replied. "I just want you, for you."

He pulled her to him in a tight embrace, and they loved, like the suns of Sigma-17.

An immortal dance that would last for eternity in their hearts.

(cont'd)


	16. Chapter 16

"Sir, our guests have arrived," said the officer following a crisp salute.

He wore his finest dress uniform, the same as every member of the crew aboard the Luxury Liner Hawaii. The Orbital Spa & Cruise flagship had been hired in full by all the major houses to celebrate the first 'Sirius Games' in over a century. The officer's jacket was blue in colour bearing a gold trim and deep-red sash hung across his shoulders. A sheathed military sabre was belted to his waist and his boots were polished so well, light reflected off the surface in spots.

The young officer merely stood to attention patiently, waiting for his senior commander to respond. The Admiral was a man to be both feared and respected. The Hawaii was vulnerably positioned as relationships with pirates, the great Sirius houses, freelancers and of course his superiors required constant management. The Admiral has no patience for poor performances and especially for bad attitudes. The Hawaii was a home to many, and he took the responsibility of keeping this hub of humanity alive in space very seriously indeed.

However, Admiral Michael Day was not in a good mood.

Not only had his entire ship been made a victim of house politics for the second time in ten years, but his main hangar deck was being prepared for a series of 'games'. He laughed aloud at the prospect, a sharp bark that made the officer standing behind him jump slightly at the sound. Games indeed, thought the Admiral. Blood sports. Arranged to appease bored ministers and wealthy businessmen. He couldn't believe it when he saw the passenger manifest, it was almost a directory of every senior administrative position in Sirius. And all aboard the Hawaii?

Ever since the latest raft of bombings in the colonies every OS&C ship had been placed on full alert status. With all these important people here, the Hawaii suddenly became a very choice target indeed.

"Sir, our guests have arrived," repeated the officer realising the Admiral hadn't noticed him there. He coughed and flushed red slightly as the Admiral turned slowly to face him, away from the large window at the far end of the main bridge.

The Admiral nodded in response.

"Good. Have them escorted to their quarters. I assume you have secured their weapons and ensure their ships are powered down fully?" asked the Admiral raising an eyebrow. He was a distinguished man in his mid-forties, well-built and lean from running a circuit of his ship each day, a regime he had followed for the last thirty years without fail on every Liner he had been stationed on.

The officer hesitated.

"Well? Answer my question, Captain," ordered the Admiral a little more forcefully than before, frowning as he spoke.

"Sir, they were reluctant to handover their personal sidearms, though they did power down their ships on docking," said the officer quickly. The Admiral did not reply instantly, making the officer feel even more uncomfortable. He felt like he was being sized up somehow.

"Fine. You were correct in your judgement not to press the issue. Inform the Outcasts they will be permitted to carry their sidearms, but will be escorted by a squad of our troopers whilst they remain aboard our ship. If they do not like that arrangement, they know where the hangars are. Dismissed," said the Admiral with a nod of his head.

He couldn't believe they were allowing the hated Outcasts aboard his ship, at least in an official capacity, but the orders came directly from Planet Curacao and could not be ignored.

The officer saluted again crisply, turned on his heel and walked towards the lift, only breathing a huge sigh once the doors had closed.

The Admiral turned slowly and looked out of the window once more, the sight of a docking armoured transport catching his eye. As soon as he recognised the blue and white logo of the Daumann corporation, he smiled.

"It's been a long time, Baron," he said to no-one in particular.

Aboard the armoured transport, Tanya, Rutger and half a dozen of his best guards had been busily preparing themselves to come aboard the Hawaii. For simplicity, Rutger introduced Tanya as Eve, a freelance commando his father had hired to provide additional security given the recent bombings.

A week before arriving at the Hawaii, a couple of the guards had voiced their concerns to the guard commander about Tanya's presence on board and wanted to know why a total stranger should be appointed such a prestigious position, especially a woman who seemed suitable only for 'bedroom duties'. The guard commander realised that a great deal of resentment had been formed amongst the soldiers, and he suggested a way that Tanya could earn their respect.

"Sir, my condolences on your father's ill health. He was, is, a great man," said the old master-of-arms bowing slightly as he spoke. "I've known him for many years and he has the total loyalty and respect of the entire corporation, and indeed, most of the Rheinland military having served in it for a decade."

"Gunter, my thanks for your kind words," replied Rutger. Gone was the naive, playful, innocent youth. "What do you propose regarding Tanya?" he asked. He trusted the old weaponsmaster with Tanya's true identity and in truth, was closer to Gunter than his own father in many ways.

"Sir, I recommend she prove herself to your men. This is the only way she will," Gunter paused searching for an appropriate word. "shrug off whatever views they have of her. And you," he said nodding.

Rutger smiled ruefully. He knew since his father's injury the corporation was effectively in his hands. He was fortunate to have a strong management team able to make most of the corporate decisions, but a great deal of what his father did involved personal meetings with business contracts, forging political alliances and gaining military support. To Rutger's surprise he learnt most people viewed his father quite warmly. However, whilst the forces that built up the military power of Daumann were not huge in number, they were each hand-picked and highly trained ex-military types. It was this group within the corporation he had to prove himself to as well.

He glanced back at Gunter who still waited for his response.

"What do you suggest, Gunter? I don't want her hurt," Rutger said.

"From what you have told me of her, I doubt very much she will be. I will arrange some tests. She will have to succeed at least the secondary objectives if the men are to take her seriously. Have Tanya come to the cargo deck in an hour."

Rutger nodded, looking more confident than he felt.

Gunter saluted, then opened the cabin door and walked out. No sooner than he left, Tanya strode in, beaming a wide smile.

"Well?" she asked. Tanya's hair was auburn now, tied back into a single ponytail and she wore a Daumann jumpsuit. Rutger had to admit to himself, she looked better in the uniform than any soldier he'd seen so far.

"Gunter thinks you need to prove yourself. Otherwise the men will view you merely as my..companion," he said lamely at last. Tanya frowned.

"A bed-mate?" she said angrily. "And is that you think of me too?"

Her fists balled and Rutger almost felt a wave of anger envelope him. He feared this side of Tanya the most.

"No, no. Not at all. I care for you deeply and I know you are more than capable at taking care of yourself. It is important you at least earn the respect of the men, if you are to remain in your current position. The role of Honour Guard is very privileged, and I have overlooked several other candidates for you."

Tanya sighed.

"I do not want favours from you, Rutger. I'm an employee of yours now. So, in this case you will have to treat me like one too. What did Gunter have in mind?"

"Gunter didn't give details, he said you were to go through a series of tests. That was all. An hour from now on the cargo deck," said Rutger slightly worried at the prospect.

She nodded, her green eyes gleaming.

"Fine. I'll be there," Tanya said, then she too strode out of Rutger's cabin.

The acting Baron merely stood still for a moment, watching Tanya leave, then sighed again deeply once the door had closed. Life as Baron was getting more complicated by the day, he mused.

An hour later, Tanya had made her way down to the cargo deck, a huge sprawling expanse of open decking, heavy lifting equipment and various containers that had been moved to sit along the walls, creating a large square of space in the centre. Gathered there, were around two dozen guards out of uniforms wearing only practice suits and an array of weapons on a bench.

Tanya laughed as she walked towards the group, she would enjoy this 'test'.

"So as you can see, a good combatant cannot rely on pure muscle or brute force alone!" said Tanya breathing hard, but not heavily.

She wore only a black top baring her arms and shoulders and a pair of combat pants. She stood bare-footed on the training mats, holding two men in arm locks that bore incredibly painful expressions on their faces as she casually walked round the edge of the mats with them in tow.

"To succeed in close combat, you must be still, be sensitive to your opponents' movements and of course, be confident in your own technique," she continued, then looked down at the men now shaking in pain. "Isn't that right, boys?" she asked, then released them where they collapsed to the mat rubbing their aching joints.

"Tricks, don't win fights," said one large man, looking at the two groaning men with contempt. "Strength wins fights," he went on. He was large, almost a foot taller than Tanya, huge thickly muscled wrists and corded tendons criss-crossed his arms and chest, massive thighs the size of fuel canisters supported his huge frame and his neck disappeared amongst a mass of more muscle. His heavily scarred face was sneering. Even Tanya was impressed.

"Your name, soldier?" she asked, noting a chuckle from the master-of-arms standing across the mat from her. The old man seemed to be enjoying watching his soldiers being beaten by a mere 'girl'. Tanya enjoyed talking to Gunter. He was a man of no expectations, what you saw, is what you got with him. She returned her gaze to the big man who had removed his shirt and was rubbing his arms and knuckles.

"My name is Frauk. And I will make you sorry you stepped onto this ship," he snarled.

Rutger winced as he watched from a monitor in his cabin. He couldn't bring himself to go downstairs and watch. The man truly dwarfed Tanya in every way. Surely even she could not defeat him?

"Very well, Frauk. Let's see what you have," Tanya said, eyes narrowed. She stepped back to allow Frauk some room onto the mats, where he grinned at the other guards, some bruised and sitting, other standing fresh but cheering the huge man on repeating his name like a chant that echoed around the deck.

"I am going to break you, little girl. And when the boy Baron sees how useless you are, I will request he gives you to me, where I will break you again. In different ways," he chuckled, a horrible sound and cracked his knuckles.

Tanya smiled briefly, saying nothing, then circled the big man for a few moments. Frauk leapt forwards with a speed that defied his bulk, and Tanya did well to dodge the incoming punch, swaying aside. She side-stepped to her right coming up behind him, where she whispered in his ear.

"I bet you haven't even seen it, let alone use it to break anyone," she said huskily.

Frauk roared and swung his other fist in a backhand which Tanya neatly ducked again, but lightly sprang to her feet and placed her face inches away from his once more.

"Do you think size matters, Frauk?" she hissed this time.

Frauk was overwhelmed at her speed, the woman moved like quicksilver. It was like trying to hit ghost, he thought. He tried to grab her for a crushing attack, but instead of moving back, Tanya stepped inside his reach and slammed the edge of her hand into his throat.

The blow was forceful and Frauk staggered back clutching his throat with both hands as his breath rattled. Tanya watched him as he tottered backwards eyes rolling upwards as he struggled to draw breath. Gunter noticed her eyes had become much darker than before, as though clouded by something.

"Lesson over," she said finally and leapt into the air, her rear foot spinning behind her then crashing into the big man's temple, where he fell poleaxed. She ignored the prone man and walked over to the other guards where they had watched in stony silence as she struck the blow, none of them daring to meet her eyes. "Anyone else?"

There was no response, only uncomfortable shuffling.

"Good. I'll be in my quarters if you need me," she said and strode off towards the lifts.

Gunter rushed over to Frauk who was slowly coming around, glad to see the big man wasn't too severely injured. He didn't have a bad heart, but wasn't particularly bright either. He chuckled as Frauk stood up and watched Tanya enter the lifts.

"She has a kick like a mule," he said rubbing his head, a lump already beginning to rise.

"I think she pulled the blow, too," laughed Gunter. Frauk grunted once and nodded.

"Seems our new Baron is at least a good judge of character like his father at least," said Gunter gruffly.

"Aye. She's a killer, that one," agreed Frauk.

Tanya was glad to be in her own cabin again. The hot, steaming shower was easing most of the days' pressures and troubles away. Tanya felt some regret over the way she had handled Frauk. She realised he was just full of testosterone and trying to show off to his friends. In the end, she dealt with him as quickly as she could without causing too much drama.

There was a knock at her cabin door and annoyed, Tanya turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, slowly padding her way to the door leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her.

Tanya opened it and to her surprise saw the huge bulk of Frauk standing in the corridor, head slightly hunched as he was too big for the tight space.

"Yes?" she asked curtly, holding the towel tighter now ready to slam the door in case he tried anything.

"Uh, Miss. I came to apologise for my words earlier. I was only, um. Teasing," he said awkwardly. A bandage was strapped across his head and his throat looked bruised.

Tanya smiled, but let the moment draw out for a little.

"Apology accepted. I hope I didn't hit you too hard," she replied. "I look forwards to working with you all," then winked and closed the door before Frauk could reply, whose mouth was still open.

Tanya padded back to the shower and turned it on again, her spirits lifted from before.

In the present, the armoured transport prepared to dock with the Hawaii. Permission to land had been granted and the transport, now a tiny blue and white dot entering a cavernous main hangar deck, slowly manoeuvred it's way to a landing pad.

Rutger, Tanya and the six guards stood to attention.

"You boys, ready?" asked Tanya. The guards nodded as one, saying nothing.

She had been drilling them all in close-proximity protection techniques, training that none of them had ever experienced before. They definitely felt stronger for it and the confidence in their new leader had grown. Rutger was pleased at the way they responded to her commands, it seemed that Gunter's idea was a dangerous one at first, but had worked. He left the master-at-arms on board his ship to supervise refuelling, with orders the older man would join them later once everything was settled.

The transport passed the gravity well and everyone on board felt a slight prickling sensation, as they crossed the invisible barrier of force that kept the hangar filled with breathable air.

"Are you ready, Baron?" asked Tanya smiling.

"With you? I am always ready," replied Rutger.

The ship landed with a gentle bump and the main doors opened, allowing Rutger and his entourage to disembark. A smiling man, well decorated in Orbital Spa & Cruise attire waited at the bottom of the ramp for them with a squard of armed guards and his smile became even broader as he recognised Rutger.

"Ah, Herr Daumann, how great it is to see you. You have grown much taller since we last met," said the officer. He extended a hand and Rutger shook it firmly.

"Admiral Day, as usual a pleasure to see you. My respect to you for staying in command of this ship for so long!" laughed the young man. Rutger noticed the Admiral glance over his shoulder at Tanya so he cleared his throat and stood back slightly. "Admiral, I would like to introduce my new Security Chief, Eve O'Callaghan. A recent appointment, she has fine credentials and has worked well with me, us, so far." He reddened ever so slightly, but the older man did not notice, his eyes fixed on Tanya's own.

The Admiral bowed, noting the determined look the woman returned. There was no give in this one, he thought.

"A pleasure to meet you," he said to Tanya, who said nothing but merely smiled and nodded in response.

"How is your father?" asked the Admiral.

Immediately, mentioning the Baron brought a pause to the proceedings, leaving the Admiral to consider what he had said. It was Tanya who broke the silence.

"The young lord's father is extremely ill. As such, he has taken a role of Acting Baron until his father is fit to resume duty," she said evenly.

"Come then, my lad. It's clear we have much to catch up on. Miss O'Callaghan, you may leave..the Baron in my care. Have you and your men attend to the barracks," ordered the Admiral, but frowned when she had not moved.

"Sir, with all due respect, I am responsible for," she wanted to say Rutger. "The Baron's protection. With permission, I would like to stay with him. But I will send our troops to the barracks as requested."

The Admiral held her gaze for some time.

"Fine. Accompany us. The rest of you will be shown to your quarters by one of my men."

He glanced at Rutger and grinned as they walked ahead.

"Where did you say you hired her?" he asked bemused. Rutger sighed.

"Admiral, that's not an easy tale to tell," he said as they walked on.

Behind them, Tanya gave some swift orders to her men and they followed the Orbital guard to another lift.

She took in her surroundings and breathed deeply as she recalled the memories of her last visit here. By chance, she happened to glance up at the viewing gallery and saw a group of black-garbed men walking the length of it purposefully. Her breath caught as she recognised one, a grim-faced man from her past.

An Outcast. The one she could not bring herself to kill.

(cont'd)


	17. Chapter 17

"Name?" barked a burly man, in ornate leather armour. Only his eyes could be seen behind the full face mask, the spiked shoulder pads and large wristbands encased in metal studs created a fearsome appearance. "I said, what is your name, slave?" demanded the slaver again, he glared inside the mucky cell, where a single man sat in the corner.

His clothes were rent and torn in several places and his face was dirt covered. Hair that was once clean and well-managed now hung in lank tendrils around his head. The man looked up slowly from where he sat, dark, brooding eyes fixed on the slaver peering through the grubby hair.

"Travis Carter," he said through dry, bleeding lips. It had been a long time since he'd had any water, the mistreatment gave him anger, and his anger gave him strength. "It's written on the fracking wall up there, idiot," he said, lips curling into a tight smile ignoring the pain as old wounds reopened and new ones formed.

The slaver glared in response but merely stood.

"Lucky for you, Liberty scum, my orders are to keep you alive. Unluckily for you, no-one told me in what condition," he smirked showing broken teeth. "I will enjoy the moment when you are called to the arena. Enjoy these hours in this cell. It is all you have left now," hissed the slaver, then stalked away down the corridor.

Travis closed his eyes until the heavy footfalls became nothing but a soft echo in the distance. In his mind, he saw so many things. Scenes from ages past. A girl with green eyes appeared constantly, then disappeared whenever he tried to focus on her image.

[iWould Tanya come?[/i he thought.

Travis bunched his fists until his knuckles became white.

"By Rheinland, this is terrible!" whispered Rutger, the young Daumann heir's eyes were wide open in shock and amazement as he took in the scene below.

The arena floor was filled with sand and terrible spikes were mounted on the wall, facing downwards at an angle to prevent any combatants escaping. The walls were twenty feet high, close enough for the spectators in the front tier of seating to smell the blood and occasionally for droplets to splash on those watching.

Rutger was sat on the third tier out of seven in all, Tanya, posing as his security chief Eve was sat beside him. Around them were people they didn't know, Tanya presumed they were wealthy guests paying high fees to watch the illegal fights. She glanced around but couldn't see the Admiral anywhere, perhaps he didn't agree with the events either, she thought.

The Daumann heir gripped Tanya's hand tightly and winced as a combatant's skull was caved in by an opponent's blow, the bone cracking audibly as the man twitched and fell. Tanya shot him a quick look and Rutger removed his hand.

"Cut that out," said Tanya. "Someone could be monitoring the spectators."

Rutger nodded and focused his attention on the battle raging inside the arena. Six men, all swarthy and dangerous looking had walked onto the sand floor from recesses within the arena wall. Each had saluted the crowd, now only two remained as the brutal free-for-all resulted in quick, bloody conclusions. The two men eyed each other warily and circled waiting for an opening, as well as gathering strength. They were unarmoured wearing loose trousers and tunics made of dull brown material. Both carried dented and battered round shields. One was swinging a spiked ball on a chain, the other carried a curved sword.

Almost immediately the tiers of spectators burst into life as bets were taken and odds revised.

"You should put a wager on," suggested Tanya. Her green eyes remained hidden behind the mirrored shades she wore, but she was closely watching the two men in the arena. "You need to make a statement that would be noticed."

Rutger nodded then gulped.

"Very well, who should I place my money on?" he asked, his eyes switching between the two. He had been watching the fights but felt at a loss who would be the better fighter. Everything happened so quickly. He looked at Tanya when she didn't reply, until at last she spoke.

"The one with the sword. Go!" she urged. "A hundred thousand credits should be enough," Tanya said smiling. "No. Make it a million."

Rutger blinked.

"I know you have the money, Rutger. Go, quickly!" said Tanya.

Rutger nodded, then set off at a pace, hurdling towards a group of spectators crowded around a large, balding man who appeared to be taking cred-sticks and giving out coupons as fast as he could. Behind him stood a giant of a man, similar in size and bulk to Frauk, the soldier Tanya fought a week before. Rutger stepped up quickly and shouted across the throng.

"A million on the man with the sword!" he bellowed.

Suddenly everyone stopped talking and turned to face him. The whole area around him fell silent as those within earshot craned to get a view of the man who had just offered to bet such a sum. Rutger reddened and felt very small indeed, a million was a huge amount of money.

The balding man grinned and reached past other waiting spectators to take Rutger's cred-stick and returned it along with a red coupon. Rutger went back to Tanya and sat down, breathless.

"Well. It's done. I hope you're right!" he said panting a little. Tanya didn't reply continuing to watch the arena floor.

As the men circled again having paused momentarily, the crowd began to cheer and hoot wildly, baying like animals, thought Rutger. The man with the ball and chain swung his weapon at his opponent and forced him to duck under the wild swing. The sword-wielding fighter quickly sprang to his feet and lunged forwards with his blade only to growl as his opponent brought his shield up to parry. The sword rang against the metal shield and both fighters stepped back again, seemingly calm against the explosive violence that they were involved in.

The ball and chain fighter attacked again, this time sweeping low making his opponent jump to avoid the blow. He used the momentum of the swing to bring the weapon around again at chest height and the sword-wielder barely to managed to bring his shield up in time. The spiked ball crashed into the shield with great force and Rutger saw several spikes bit into the metal, the wielder tugged on the chain sharply pulling the shield from the sword-wielder's grasp and the spectators cheered again, knowing the end was drawing near.

"It's over," said Rutger miserably.

The sword-wielder charged in a desperate lunge but the ball and chain fighter brought his shield up and sent it flying into his opponent's face. The man went down and before he could rise, the spiked ball was whipped around and buried inches deep in his skull.

A huge cheer went up from the crowd and there was a bustle of activity as bets were paid off. Rutger sighed.

"Win some, you lose some," said Rutger looking up at the roof. Tanya laughed making Rutger turn towards her. "I don't find losing a million credits funny!" he said angrily.

Tanya nodded.

"If you believe in me, you'll trust me," she said softly. "This is not the only fight today."

Down in the arena, bodies were dragged off and fresh sand brought out to cover the pools of blood beginning to congeal on the floor. A man dressed in a black uniform stepped out onto the sand, accompanied by several others. Tanya noticed one seemed very out of place, his designed suit was most unsuitable for an arena sand pit.

The man in the black uniform spoke first, a comm-link worn on his ear was sending signals to a loudspeaker somewhere.

"Friends! Welcome to the first in what I hope are many such tournaments. Welcome to the Sirius Gladiator Tourneys!" he yelled. The crowd cheered again and Tanya noted the expensive clothes, accessories and jewellery adorning many of the spectators. She never realised there was such wealth in the colonies. She also had come to realise there was a huge gulf between those scraping an existence and those with true wealth. The man spoke again.

"I am your host for this evening's events, you may call me 'The Ambassador'. For I am enemy to no-one and friend to all. I seek only to provide entertainment where there is none. And I want to bring the wealthiest and most powerful in Sirius together. I am your servant, and I hope you will all be entertained!" he said emphatically and was met with a rousing cheer. "Today you have seen the first of the melee contests. Tomorrow, we have space combat, where your best pilots will compete for the illustrious title of Colony Ace! Now, a word from our sponsors."

He gestured for the man in the suit to come forwards and passed him the earpiece. When he spoke he used low, deliberate tones. Tanya knew instinctively this man was dangerous and watched him carefully.

"My name is Governor Jack Mason. I work for the Liberty Defence Ministry. Many of you may not know me. But I hope that a certain number of you will. I am hosting a meeting later today after the bouts, those fortunate enough to have received an invitation would do well to attend, for the reward is great prestige and power," the man paused taking the gaze of the people sat above him. "Enjoy the tournament," he said finally, handing back the earpiece to the uniformed man. The group left leaving Tanya with her thoughts.

The young woman frowned. This was the man Travis spoke of before, Governor Mason, the man who gave the order for dozens of assassinations, the man who treated the lives of her team like dust, and the man who was responsible for ordering their deaths.

"We need to find out what's going on, Rutger," she said determinedly. "You have to be in that meeting later!"

"How do I do that? I haven't received such an invitation," said Rutger.

"Don't worry, I think we have an opening," replied Tanya nodding down at the arena floor once more.

More men walked forth from the darkened corridor wearing two different colours and she studied them all as they warmed up. One in particular had caught her eye, he moved with a feral grace and great confidence. The assured manner of his movements singled him out to be very well trained, or possessing great natural athleticism and he appeared to be strangely familiar.

Travis was breathing hard, it had been a long time since he had to undertake any kind of intense physical activity. He blamed the continuous lethargy of long space journeys making his muscles soft. No wonder Tanya had been able to beat him so easily before, he felt like a freighter trying to move like a scout fighter.

Twelve men entered the arena this time, six on each side. The theme was to defeat the other side, but clearly the side against him had been given better odds. They looked fresher, their equipment was better and they had clearly fought together before. Only two men had survived on his team, against four on the other. Fortunately for Travis, they had split into smaller groups and begun to hunt the men on his side singly, giving him time to pick on who he thought was the weakest overall. He and the last surviving member had attacked two in such a way and Travis took a deep breath as he prepared to engage the last of the pair.

He ducked a wild swing then lashed out with his own blade, catching the man high in the shoulder. Blood spurted out and he fell back dropping his sword clutching his useless arm. Travis backed away too wiping the blood from his eyes, opening them to see his opponent run through from behind by his remaining team-mate who grinned at Travis.

At the far side of the arena, the three men dispatched their quarry and turned towards Travis and his companion.

"What is your name?" asked Travis hoarsely.

"What?" asked the tired man. He was in his mid-thirties and handled himself well.

"Your name? I'm Travis," replied the ex-bounty hunter.

"I'm Shaun, pleased to meet ya. When we're done with these guys, how about I buy you a drink later?" he laughed.

Travis laughed too.

"Sounds good, buddy. But we might have some competition first," he said, nodding to the approaching trio. Travis gripped his sword tighter. He was a dead man. The wounds he'd taken earlier, whilst not deep had slowly been sapping his strength. Against three fresh opponents better armed and trained he would stand no chance. At least he would go down fighting.

Up in the stands, Tanya and Rutger watched with avid interest. The young woman knew Travis was tiring, but was powerless to do anything. She touched Rutger on the arm lightly.

"Rutger, that man, on the left. That's Travis," she said softly.

Rutger's eyes widened.

"That is him? That fighter there?" he asked, pointing to the dishevelled warrior in the arena. Travis had thrown away his shield and stooped to retrieve a fallen sword to accompany the one he had already. "He looks, tired," said the Daumann heir sadly.

Tanya nodded expressionless. To act now would blow her cover and everything they had planned for would be wasted. Travis was on his own. Still, there could be something positive out of this.

"Go place a bet. Two million on the blue team to win," she said with a grin. Rutger looked at her and for the first time in a while frowned.

"Fraulein. I've already lost a million on your tips. Do you want me to sell my company to pay my debts?" he asked annoyed.

Tanya shrugged and looked away to the arena floor again.

Rutger sighed.

"Fine, fine. I will return shortly," he said resignedly. Before he could rise, Tanya put a firm hand on his arm.

"No, make the bet from here. Shout it out if you have to," she ordered.

The Daumann heir shook his head in total confusion, but eventually nodded and sighed again.

"Two million credits on the blue team to win!" he shouted at the fat, balding man who had taken his bet before.

The man looked up surprised but once he understood what Rutger was saying could hardly conceal his delight. He quickly barged his way past a few people and had given Rutger a coupon and swiped his cred-stick. Inspired, a dozen people took bets and counter bets too.

"I hope you're right this time," said Rutger to Tanya. "I really do! If we keep going like this, I'll have to sell 'you' into slavery, Miss O'Callaghan!"

"Well come on then, girls! Don't keep us waiting all day!" bellowed Travis at the three men facing him.

They had approached warily, fanning out as wide as possible to try and surround him and his partner. Travis smiled, it was a foolish move. His training had come flooding back to him and his mind remained calm and clear. Had they attacked together they would have overcome at least one of the pair, leaving the last alone and vulnerable. Travis edged slowly to the man on the far left of the semi-circle, then without warning, charged him screaming at the top of his voice attempting to unsettle his opponent.

His first sword came down with great speed but was blocked by his surprised opponents shield. Travis shoulder charged his man and sent him hurtling to the ground with the momentum. Before he could bring his shield to bear Travis was standing above him, slicing, hacking and stabbing downwards mercilessly with both of his swords. Within moments, his blades found their mark and the man lay prone in a pool of his own blood with several gaping wounds. The ex-bounty hunter turned and saw to his dismay his companion Shaun, stabbed in the chest as he desperately attempted to defend against two men. He slid to the ground with his back against the arena wall, leaving a bloody trail on the surface.

Travis roared and charged again. The two men braced themselves. Travis reached his arm back and before the men could react threw one of his swords at close range as hard as he could. It spun through the air and hammered into the visor of one man, forcing it shut as the blade impeded his vision. His companion stood transfixed as Travis continued his charge and weakly parried Travis's downward swing using his shield. The ex-bounty hunter swatted it aside using his free hand then brought his sword up in a deadly stab under the guard of his opponent screaming in rage and desperation as the point rammed home. The sword burst through the man's back and Travis, still screaming let go of the blade and pushed the man away in contempt.

Covered in blood, eyes wild and chest pumping heavily he turned on the last man who had barely managed to prise open his visor. He looked at the bloody, snarling creature ahead of him and slowly backed away, his eyes showing great fear. Travis bent down and picked up a sword dropped from a fallen fighter, then with his head still bowed flicked his eyes up at the man who now stood trembling. A moment later, he turned around and ran for the dark recess in the wall of the arena, presumably where an access door was. Once there, he pounded on the door with his fists all dignity abandoned.

"Let me out! Let me out! This wasn't part of the deal!" he screamed. Behind him, Travis stood still watching the man and his futile attempt at escape.

The door opened and he stepped back with a relieved smile on his face only for it to freeze suddenly. There was a bright flash and the smell of burning flesh filled the arena and the man looked down to find his chest had been burned away, then fell back onto the sandy floor, creating a minor cloud of dust.

All around the arena, resounding cheers could be heard and most of the spectators had risen to their feet clapping and stamping their feet.

Travis walked over to the still form of his team-mate.

"Shaun, I'm sorry buddy," said the ex-bounty hunter, closing the man's open eyes. "In the next life."

Two fully armed men appeared from the recess, carrying blasters and beckoned Travis over. Wearily, he limped over to them totally exhausted now. Before he reached the door, for some reason unknown to him he felt eyes on his back and spun to look up into the crowd. He saw a huge group of people surrounding a large balding man who was desperately trying to swipe a dozen or more cred-sticks. He did not look happy. Just beside him was a handsome, well-dressed man in a white and blue uniform who was on his chair leaping up and down.

Standing in front of him leaning on a rail staring straight at Travis was a strikingly attractive, athletic-looking woman. She too was dressed in uniform similar to the young man behind her. The woman reached up with a hand and pulled her shades down to the end of her nose. She held his eyes for a fleeting moment, smiled briefly, then replaced the shades and turned around gently pulling the young man off the chair.

Travis chuckled as he walked away.

He'd recognise those green eyes anywhere in Sirius.

"We won! We won!" repeated Rutger. He was the first to arrive before the betting tout and wore a grin as wide as his face when he returned to Tanya. The young woman smiled but maintained her calm. All around them the cheers were defeaning. A black uniformed man pushed his way through the crowd and approached Rutger, tapping him on his shoulder. Tanya moved in closer to hear what he said.

"Sir, Baron Rutger Daumann. I represent the hosts of today's events. You have been invited to join us for a meeting in one hour. Should you desire greater wealth, status and power you would do well to attend. How should I respond to my superiors?" said the cold-eyed man. He stared directly at Rutger, though his eyes occasionally flickered to Tanya's mirror shaded eyes.

Rutger nodded immediately.

"I will be there. Where is the meeting?" he asked.

"A guide will come to your cabin door and escort you. Bring one attendant. No more," replied the man sharply. He bowed his head slightly, then pushed his way back into the crowd. Within moments he was lost amongst the throng.

The Daumann heir spun to face Tanya.

"How?" he shrugged.

"Because, now you're thought of as young, foolish, bad with money, but lucky. You will be under-estimated and hopefully you'll hear and see more as people consider you harmless. With a woman as your attendant instead of a hulking bodyguard, they'll probably even consider you as some corporation-bred playboy with a soft lifestyle," she concluded and couldn't help herself but smile as she spoke. "No offence."

Rutger laughed. "Well. That's not a bad summary at all, really!"

(cont'd)


	18. Chapter 18

Rutger anxiously paced the length of his cabin.

It was over an hour since the cold-eyed man had approached them at the arena. The invitation was brief, manners curt. The Daumann heir began to wring his hands and accidentally banged his shoe against a chair leg as he spun to walk another length of the lounge.

"You should relax, Rutger," suggested Tanya. She smiled slightly bemused at the young man. What was it? she asked herself. It could have been his looks, his wealth, his status. None of these interested Tanya really. Tanya was attracted to Rutger because of who he was. In a universe of scum, Rutger was one of those rare people with a genuinely good soul. Sometimes, such souls needed help, she felt.

"How can I relax, Tanya? They're late!" said Rutger. He stopped pacing and threw his arms into the air. "I'm about to attend a meeting where you suspect everyone involved will have an interest in destabilising the colonies or providing unofficial support to a separatist faction. The man who asked us to join is no doubt a cold-hearted killer. You said there will be others there. And you're asking me to relax?!" exclaimed the young man, who suddenly frowned as he glanced at Tanya's amused and unsympathetic expression.

"Well. It won't help putting yourself under this kind of pressure," said Tanya evenly. Her smile faded. "If you're to learn anything of what these people plan you have to stay calm."

"They're late, why are they late?" asked Rutger pacing again. He strode over to a desk where a silver tray carrying some glasses and a bottle containing a clear green liquid were waiting. With shaking hands, he poured himself a large drink and gulped the liquid down swiftly. Tanya stood up and walked over to him slowly when she saw Rutger pour another drink.

"Rutger. Listen to me. We're only going to listen. Nothing more. At the most, you'll be asked to donate some resources. I doubt you'll be asked for an opinion," said Tanya. She moved in closer and placed her hands on either side of Rutger's face, then gently kissed him allowing the moment to linger. "There. Better?" she asked smiling again.

The young man stood for a moment holding to her gaze.

"Much. Again?" he asked hopefully.

Tanya punched him on the arm and returned to the sofa. She was busy preparing her blaster and deftly finished clicking the pieces of her weapon together within a few heartbeats. Rutger watched her skilfully ready the gun then almost jumped when there was a loud knock at the cabin door. Tanya nodded to Rutger before sheathing the weapon under her jacket.

The Daumann heir opened the cabin door and before him stood an ordinary looking man in a dark uniform that seemed to emanate hatred and cruelty.

"Baron Daumann. Miss O'Callaghan. Please follow me," he said before turning on his heel and walking down the corridor without looking back.

Rutger nodded, glancing back at Tanya, now resuming her role as Eve his Security Director and breathed deeply as she fell in step behind.

The doors to his cabin hissed as they closed.

"Hold your tongue, dammit!" swore one man who was standing, he was large, balding and spat often as he spoke, much to the annoyance of those seated nearby. "We have more than enough manpower, ships, and money in this room to take over three or four systems. I reckon you're scared!" he said and pointed a pudgy finger.

The man on the receiving end of the tirade sat motionlessly for a while, staring at his aggressor with obvious malice. He raised his hands and slowly clapped them together sarcastically. The room was large and thirty people sat around a circular table that was hollow in the centre. The attendants allowed to accompany each of the delegates were each standing behind their charges. Tanya, wearing her shades, was carefully memorising the faces of everyone sat at the table.

"Lord Alric. I understand your doubts. It's a well known fact the people you represent would like nothing more than their own home systems," replied the man. "However, even if we did move in to control a number of systems and claim them for our own, how long do you think such an action would go without some retaliation? The House colonies would send more than enough ships to deal with us. Then we have nothing."

The large man sat down.

"What do you propose?" he asked sullenly.

Tanya watched as Liberty Governor Jack Mason rose from his seat and stood to address the group. She hated this man. He moved like a viper and whenever he spoke, every word seemed to drip with poison.

"I say we force the Houses to recognise a new state. We create enough trouble with the colonies that they turn all their attention inwards. Then, we rise as House of our own. House Hispania!"

This last comment drew an audible gasp and almost immediately what was only a low murmuring became shouts and exclamations. Mason seemed undeterred and was even smiling. He raised his hands for a few moments and waited for the noise to subdue.

"You are mad!" shouted Lord Alric, the jowls of his face wobbling as he angrily yelled across the room once more. His forehead was a sheen of sweat and spittle was gathering at the corners of his mouth. "House Hispania? Are we aligned with the Outcasts now? Every House will proclaim us as rebels and annihilate us with their forces!"

A number of other people murmured their agreement, Tanya noticed a few were nodding. Others said nothing. Some were even smiling. Clearly, Mason had done some preparatory work before this meeting. Making promises was easy. Keeping them was much harder.

"My friends, the Outcasts have been our allies for many years now. I have personally been working with them and now, comparing the House militaries with the Outcasts own resources, I would say the so-called rebels easily have more than enough firepower to hold not only their own home systems, but spread out and claim a number of significant independents as well!"

Mason turned to an aide sat next to him and she feverishly worked some controls. At the centre of the room, a large holographic projection of Sirius appeared. The Outcast home systems Omicron Alpha and Beta were blinking.

"Today, the Outcasts control these systems," said Mason. He pointed to the two blinking dots using a laser pen. "Tomorrow, House Hispania will control these systems!"

More shouts were heard as Tau-37, Tohoku, Sigma-19 and Omicron Theta began blinking too.

"Impossible!" shouted Alric again. "We face taking on the Zoners, Blood Dragons, GMG, BMM, IMG and at least three House militaries!"

"I agree," replied Mason coolly. "And we will win. All of you here represent some aspect of every one of those corporations or military forces. Using your own contacts, you will give the House Hispania forces detailed information on ship locations, load outs, jump patterns, patrols and of course, we will enforce the Hispania forces with whatever we can do. Tomorrow, we can carve out our own nation in space. Our own rules. Our own rewards. We will want for nothing. Food? The bio-domes of Freeport 9 in Omi Theta will supply an endless amount. Fuel? Sigma-19 and it's nebulae is the source. Raw materials? The asteroids of Tau-37. And technology? Well. I am yet to see what technology is superior to Outcast tech."

"What about the Corsairs?" said one man, Tanya didn't recognise him.

Mason didn't reply but instead smiled so coldly Rutger shivered. The Liberty Governor motioned with his hand to someone standing at the far corner of the room who as yet had said nothing. As he moved under a light, the metal face-plat that covered half of his face shone. Tanya recognised Kenji Akamoto instantly.

"The Corsairs are not to be feared and are being hunted as we speak. We have begun operations to cull their numbers. Soon they will be virtually wiped out and Omega systems free from their claws," said Kenji.

Another murmur in the hall began.

"Friends!" said Mason raising his voice powerfully above the noise. "It is time you make your decisions. Right now, my people are passing out transmitters. If you push the green button, you will be a part of House Hispania and ten million credits will be sent to your personal accounts as a gift. If you push the red button, ten million credits will be sent to your personal accounts, this buys your silence. To avoid drawing attention to so many signals at one location, you can only use the transmitters twenty klicks away from the Hawaii. I look forwards to your responses."

Someone thrust a small, matchbox-sized gadget into Rutger's hands and he quickly put it away in a jacket pocket. Rutger looked at Tanya who gave an imperceptible nod.

People were already standing and making their way out of the room when Mason spoke again.

"Friends, do not forget the next event is due to begin in a few hours; The Ring Race! Send your best pilots. We all want to be entertained."

Rutger and Tanya returned to their cabin. Rutger was pacing again, though this time more in thought than panic. Tanya was typing at the desk terminal concentrating.

"Tanya," began the Daumann heir. "If what we heard was true, the arrival of a new House in Sirius would cause irreversible consequences for the whole of Sirius. A new unpredictable threat would appear on the horizons of every major House. The economy would be turned into chaos and the relative peace we have now, excluding the Nomads, would be completely upset!"

Tanya murmured a reply.

"What did you say?" said Rutger moving a bit closer.

"I said, you're right," Tanya replied, still tapping at her keyboard.

"Well, what can we do about it? This is bigger than I even imagined!" said Rutger.

"Yes. It is, isn't it?"

Rutger pursed his lips in annoyance.

"I must tell my father."

Tanya looked up.

"No! You must do no such thing. You must also push the green button when we leave the Hawaii. Any other action would mean death," advised Tanya. She finished typing and pressed a button on the terminal. A small mini-disc popped out of the drive. Tanya removed it and held it up to Rutger.

"Rutger. You must take this disc and hand it over to the Rheinland authorities," she gave him the disc. "On it, are the names of everyone in that room."

He gulped.

"Including mine?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes. Yours too. Don't worry, you'll be safe. You'll be protected because you're alerting the Houses of something that could totally destroy Sirius. The fools. How Mason can even think a new House Hispania could exist is ridiculous. No-one wants another organised nation in Sirius. The galaxy is crowded enough as it is."

Tanya glanced at her watch.

"Race time," she said with a grin. "This is your chance to make good your escape. Everyone on the Hawaii will be focused on the Ring Race. I understand it's a copy of the rings based in Dublin system, near the Hood."

Rutger nodded.

"Dangerous then. Weapon platforms. Cruise speed turns. Small rings to fly through," he said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, without doubt, there will be plenty of danger. It's my opportunity to raise hell and hopefully create so much distraction you can slip away unnoticed. Alert your people. Tell them about what is happening here and hopefully a few battleship and cruisers will jump in to stop anyone else from leaving. Can you do this?"

The Daumann heir stood proudly.

"Of course! But. You must be careful. I shall be thinking about you," he said.

"Me too," Tanya replied. "I have to get ready. You should leave once all the racers have left the Hawaii and are into their first lap. Take Frauk and the boys with you," she suggested. Tanya had spent several days training the Daumann bodyguards during the flight to the Hawaii. "Good luck, Rutger."

Tanya wrestled with the controls of her ship and brought the nose starboard in a sharp turn. Her Eagle very-heavy fighter screamed in response as it changed direction and the whole ship shuddered as she went through another craft's slipstream. Her Eagle, dubbed Athena like her first Banshee light fighter was, cut inside a rival ship; a Rheinland-built Valkyrie and with a quick burst of her afterburners moved away.

She felt the pressure of the race. Ten laps in total. Fifty rings. And not all the rings were equally spaced or the same size. It made for some brutal flying as competitors barged each other aside for the best flight line or more often as not, barged each other because they could. Of the total twenty ships taking part, at least half had been crippled or destroyed.

Tanya steered her Eagle into a tight S-turn, banking right, left, then right again as she heard her on-board computer announce each time she passed through a ring. Debris rocketed past her cockpit bouncing harmlessly from her shields, causing the occasional flare from the impact.

Three laps to go.

"Pilots!" crackled a voice of the comms. Tanya cursed at the distraction and narrowly missed the inner edge of a ring as she dipped her fighter to pass under it. "So far, your weapons have been disabled. Now. You're all weapons hot. And furthermore, a series of weapons platforms have been activated. Good luck."

Tanya laughed. An alarm indicated a missile had locked on to her ship and she punched a button to eject a countermeasure. The missile flew to the left of her ship and exploded.

Glancing at her radar, there were at least three other ships close behind her and three ships in front. She took the next ring at speed, killed her engines at max thruster speed, smoothly engaged her cruise engines having turned to face a new heading. She could see the ship in third place in front. It was a Falcon. Judging by the colours it was probably a Bretonian vessel. Just in front of the Bretonian vessel was another ship, an Eagle. Tanya could see the ship in first place on her radar, but it was only a white square on her HUD.

Tanya took the next few rings ably and found herself right behind the Falcon, her Eagle shuddering from the constant exhaust. She wasn't close enough to pass the ship, but the comms came over loud and clear.

"So. Who's this behind me?" said a cultured Bretonian voice. "Oh. It's the Daumann girl," he continued mockingly. "And in front I have the Kusari hunter whelp."

A helmeted figure appeared in Tanya's HUD and she raced to think who the Bretonian could be speaking of. Was it Kenji?

"I am Brian Carstairs. I fly for BMM," he said, then suddenly banked his ship sharply forcing Tanya to pull back on her ship to avoid a collision. She would have to settle for fourth place for now.

The three ships flew at breakneck speed flying through a series of rings one after another until the computer announced the penultimate lap. In a moment of incredible flying, the Bretonian managed to squeeze between the inside of a ring and the Kusari ship, suddenly the Bretonian was in second place. A cold voice spoke over the comms.

It was Kenji.

"Brian?" he said over the comm.

"Yes? Annoyed at my ability to out-fly an honoured member of the Kusari elite?"

The retort was met with an unfriendly laugh.

"I want to introduce my friends," said Kenji. "E, M and P."

He fired three EMP missiles at Brian's ship in quick succession, then fired his guns adding to the mayhem. The Bretonian screamed as he realised his shields had vanished in a split second. Tanya realised that flying so close meant countermeasures were useless and she quickly decelerated knowing what was coming next. Kenji rammed the Bretonian's ship from behind crippling its engines and forced it into a doomed trajectory.

Brian Carstairs screamed as his Falcon spun out of control. Tanya winced as the scream was cut short and steered her ship past the fireball following Brain's collision with a ring.

Tanya pulled up alongside Kenji and kept her ship level with his.

"I know it's you," said Kenji on a private channel. "I saw how you avoided the explosion. A reflex pilot, Orbital Spa called you," he said coldly.

The two ships took the next few rings in parallel.

"Kenji. Why are you joining Mason's group?" asked Tanya. "It will never work. In a few hours, this part of Sirius will be surrounded by House ships. Nothing will escape alive."

The Kusari lord laughed.

"Why? Because I can hunt Corsairs! I have been given a new contract by almost every corporation, House and independent. I have access to fly in all systems and utilise all stations to hunt down those traitors. They are a dying breed. It will not be long before I completely exterminate them," he said. "And you should not try and stop me."

"Genocide is not revenge. It's insanity," said Tanya softly. Their ships banked and swerved as one. They were gaining slowly on the lead ship. "I know what they did to you was..wrong. But they have a right to live as much as the rest of the colonies."

"Then why do you think Mason's plan is mad?" snarled Kenji. "If you think the Corsairs deserve to live. Why can't House Hispania?"

Tanya sighed.

"Because Mason doesn't really care what happens, ultimately. He just wants to cause chaos. There's no good that will come of this. Only war. The Corsairs are a nuisance yes, but they would never stray beyond their home systems. What about the people the Corsairs trade with? The Zoners? The independents? Traders and merchants?"

Kenji didn't reply at first. Tanya felt hopeful she was getting through.

"Then it makes my job easier to exterminate the Corsairs. The independents will guide me to every Corsair. I will jump into their home systems and de-terraform every planet. I'll bleed their systems dry of resources. I will send their souls screaming into the abyss!" he raged, then twisted on his controls and barged into Tanya's ship, forcing her behind, their shields shimmered and crackled.

She wrestled with her controls again.

"I can't believe you really mean this. I'm sure there's something inside you that remains of the old Kenji. Please. Listen to me. What you're doing is wrong. And siding with Mason won't help!" she urged. "I'm sorry, I can't let you do this. Slaughtering innocents is not right!"

Tanya fired her guns and unloaded a barrage of missiles forcing Kenji to bank sharply to avoid being hit. He flew past a ring, outside of it, and thus, was disqualified from the race. She turned off the channel and flew on, ignoring the furious Kusari. Tanya never wanted to hurt him and hoped Kenji would reconsider.

She flew on determined to catch the lead ship. She was half-way around the last lap and saw the ship, in colours she didn't recognise, only a few rings ahead. Tanya pulled every manoeuvre she knew to gain speed, but no matter what she tried the gap remained the same. In fact, she despaired when the radar indicated the ship ahead was getting further away!

Within minutes the race was over. Tanya had to settle for second place. She opened a long-range comm to Rutger and smiled when he told her he was close to Frankfurt system.

She pulled her ship alongside the winner and waved out of the cockpit at the pilot in the rival ship. It looked like an Outcast ship, a Sabre.

"You flew well, kid. What's your name?" came a voice over the comm. It was deep, smooth. Confident.

"Eve," said Tanya. "Eve O'Callaghan. I work for Daumann," she replied. "And you?"

"Call me Trent," came the reply. "You kept up with my ship. Not bad at all. Contact me if you want a job. We're always looking for good pilots."

"We?" asked Tanya. She was sure he was smirking or something. A muffled voice echoed in the background, it was female, crisp. Urgent.

"Trent. It's Juni. Meet me on Manhattan."

"Uh-huh. See you around, Miss O'Callaghan," said Trent. "Duty calls."

Tanya watched his Sabre cruise into the distance before returning to the Hawaii. She glanced at her HUD. It wouldn't be long now before Rutger and the militaries arrived. She hoped they had done enough. Mason had to be stopped.

Or Sirius would be plunged into civil war.

(cont'd)


	19. Chapter 19

Tanya flew her Eagle at top speed back to the hangar bay of the Hawaii.

If her judgement was correct, Rutger should be close to a Rheinland station of some kind and thus, be able to contact the military. She was unsure of the response, but at the least they would send a delegation out to investigate what's happening on the Hawaii. Tanya knew she had to find a way of keeping Mason on the Luxury Liner, or at least in the same system.

The young woman guided her ship to within a hundred metres of the mouth of the docking channel then activated the autopilot. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

Taking on Mason would be difficult. The Liberty Governor had surrounded himself with an army of goons, no doubt experienced mercenaries and pilots from across Sirius. Somehow, he had even managed to chain her old friend Kenji Akamoto and his pet bitch Hideko to his cause. This was even more worrying, for Kenji was a great pilot and had access to some of the best space combatants in the colonies.

Her ship glided smoothly into the dim interior of the Hawaii's secondary hangar, for non-important arrivals. The main hangar bay was constantly lit in full, cleaned and manned by vacuous Orbital Spa & Cruise personnel whose only jobs were to look good and usher guests as quickly as possible from the potentially deadly hangar bay. Her Eagle landed on the deck with a soft bump and moments later, her on-board computer informed local air pressure and toxicity was nominal.

Tanya removed her helmet, placed it on the seat and jumped out of the cockpit onto the hangar bay deck, shaking her now blonde hair free in the process. A loose strand caught in her jumpsuit and while pulling it free didn't notice the group of men approaching from the corridor that led to the rest of the Hawaii.

"Eve O'Callaghan?" called out the closest, a burly-looking man with a deep frown. The two men flanking him looked equally serious. All wore civilian clothing. Tanya glanced up quickly, though continued to work her hair, now fully caught in her jumpsuit's various zippers.

"Yes?" she replied distracted pulling at several strands painfully.

"Marshal James Carshalton. These are my deputies, Tony Flannigan and Frank Burdock," he continued, nodding his head left, then right as he spoke. The other two surly men said nothing.

"Great, great. Can you hold this for a second?" asked Tanya moving close to the surprised Marshal motioning to the lapel of her jumpsuit.

"Uh, sure," was the uncertain reply.

Tanya smiled then quickly wrenched a fistful of hair away from the zipper, leaving a few strands caught in the garment. Rubbing her head, she stepped away from the group of men and appraised them fully. Bounty Hunters.

"So what can I do for Marshal Carshalton? And deputies," she winked at the others who shuffled their feet uncomfortably.

"Well ma'am, we noticed you came second in the race," he began.

"Yes, no prizes for second place," interrupted Tanya.

"And you were easily the best pilot," continued the Marshal.

"Except the winner," she sighed.

"Ma'am, please let me finish!" asked the Marshal exasperated.

Tanya raised an eyebrow then nodded, whilst holding to the man's eyes.

"Forgive me, we don't have a lot of time. As you may have guessed, we're Bounty Hunters," said the Marshal. Tanya bit her lip and held back a reply. "We're out from Huntsville LPI, Texas system. We've been contracted to take out an artifact smuggler and believe he's holed up here on the Hawaii."

Tanya nodded.

"Who?"

"Travis Carter," he said. Tanya blanched. "He's a traitor. He used to be one of us, but clearly found artifact smuggling more lucrative," the two men beside him sniggered.

"Who's your employer?" she asked.

"I can't really say ma'am. It's client confidentiality," replied the Marshal as though he'd said that many times before.

"I know where Travis is. And I'll tell you where he is if you tell me who your client is," she said evenly.

The Marshal stared at her for a few moments then without looking at the two deputies spoke sharply.

"Boys, go back to the corridor, I'll join you there in a minute," he said. The two men looked at each other then didn't move. "I said, go!" the Marshal ordered.

"But Marshal, we can just take her in for questioning if she knows where Carter is?" began one of the deputies. Tanya smiled at him then winked again, making him snarl.

"No. Get moving. Now!" he barked. The two men sullenly moved back and strode towards to the main corridor, talking to each other softly.

Tanya laughed.

"They must be new?" she asked amused. The Marshal nodded.

"Damn greenhorns, the Guild keeps assigning to me. They'll be dead within a week, thinking they can take on some corsair or outcast," he sighed. "Miss O'Callaghan. I'm just as surprised as you are about this accusation. I've known Travis for sometime. By the twin suns, we even flew a couple missions together. But a contract is a contract."

The young woman nodded.

"Marshal. Who is the client? It's important. If you tell me, I promise I'll tell you where Travis is."

The Marshal took a deep breath.

"Governor Jack Mason," he said finally.

Tanya looked up at the hangar bay ceiling.

"Tying up loose ends," she muttered to herself softly.

"Pardon me?" asked the Marshal.

"Nothing," replied Tanya. "Travis is a prisoner on the Hawaii. He's probably locked up in a cell near the new arena. I don't know exactly where that is, but that's where you'll find him."

"Thanks," came the muted reply. A moment of silence grew. "Look, I can't believe Travis is smuggling artifacts either. But I have to complete the contract."

"Marshal. What if I told you that something bigger than Travis was available? A bigger hit. A much bigger hit?" asked Tanya. "Something that could make your name in Sirius."

The older man raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

One of the two deputies called over from the corridor.

"Hey boss! What's going on?"

The Marshal ignored them.

"Go ahead, Miss O'Callaghan. But this had better be good."

Tanya grinned.

"Oh it is, and ironically involves your client, Governor Jack Mason, as well as all those other senior people you mentioned before."

A solitary figure stood motionless in his cabin.

It was luxury accommodation, a prestige that very few individuals could afford. Governor Jack Mason was one of those individuals and he shook his head as he watched the third armada of warships cruise into striking distance of the Luxury Liner Hawaii.

Each of the task forces contained at least one battleship and several cruiser escorts. With them, came a flotilla of gunboats. Mason was unable to see any fighters and concluded they would be launched closer to the Hawaii, though he didn't doubt the Rheinlanders had some cloaked fighters around to prevent anyone from escaping. The Liberty Governor walked away from the huge window that covered the length of one wall and slowly made his way to an oversized desk, on it sat a simple black suitcase.

He opened the case and withdrew a tiny flesh coloured device that he inserted into his ear.

"Is everything ready?" he asked.

"Affirmative," came the muted, sub-vocalised reply.

"Excellent. Activate the drones once the House ships are in range. We depart in one hour. Have the teams on standby," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

The Governor was a tall man and athletically built. In his mid-forties, he still appeared to be in good physical condition, a testament to the strict discipline he kept of training for one hour everyday. He smoothed his long, dark hair behind his head and re-tied it to form a single dark streak between the shoulder blades of his crisp white shirt. His face seemed to be a single sharp edge, there were no soft features and even his eyes pierced all when he cast them over something or someone.

Although his cabin was huge Governor Jack Mason filled it entirely with his presence, except, the room wasn't quite empty. He turned and looked over to the individual sat on the sofa. Shadows cast from the dim interior washed over a shapely feminine form with dark, smouldering eyes.

"Now. From the ashes, a new Sirius order shall be formed," said the woman leaning forwards in a heavy, Kusari accent. "Are you a religious man, Jack?" she asked.

"Not really," he replied moving towards her. "I believe in my own destiny, forged in the making of my own hands."

She laughed, a throaty musical sound.

"Indeed."

Mason stared at her, then touched the device in his ear.

"Colonel," said Mason softly.

A pause.

"Yes, sir?"

"We depart in two hours." He removed the device and placed it carefully on the table. "Hideko. If Lord Akamoto finds out, he will be very angry with you."

She laughed again, firing his senses.

"It will not be the first time," she mused.

An hour later, the commander of the Liberty armada issued an order for his ships to position themselves galactic west of the Luxury Liner Hawaii. A dozen fighters were launched from the bays of the Battleship Missouri and flew in formation before the task force. The Rheinland Navy adopted a similar position galactic south but secretly dispatched a wing of cloaked fighters to patrol the far side of the Hawaii. The Bretonian fleet stationed themselves galactic north. There was no sign of a Kusari fleet and scans indicated the nearest significant vessels were still in Honshu.

"Someone get the Kusari Admiralty on the horn. I want to know why they haven't sent any ships and when they plan to do so!" barked Colonel Mayhew, Bretonian Armed Forces, aboard the Battleship Exeter.

"Yes, sir!" yelled an officer in reply.

All the staff aboard the ships were tense. Although the request for personnel came from the Chancellor himself, having so many warships in one system could easily lead to trouble. Relations between the Kusari and Rheinland houses were improving, but Bretonia still viewed Liberty with a degree of contempt, as according to history the Liberty vessel launched into space early in the Coalition war and secured the best systems, whilst in return, Liberty viewed Bretonia as it's weaker cousin. Rheinland was distrusted by everyone, for their incursions into GMG controlled territory and slow, but steady dominance of the Omega systems.

Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the Exeter and almost immediately afterwards a cruiser was torn in two by a volley of heavy torpedo strikes. A huge fireball exploded outwards, enveloping several fighters lost in a cloud of flame and wrenched metal. The shockwave buffeted every ship within a klick.

"What in Cerberus' left ball is going on?" demanded Colonel Mayhew struggling to remain on his feet. Alarms and klaxons were all screeching on the bridge and the lights had dimmed to a dark-red hue. The Colonel struggled past some fallen equipment and yelled at his number two. "Did someone just fire on us?"

"We're not certain, sir," replied the officer. He was bleeding from a wound at his head. "We have initial reports that the torps originated west of the Hawaii."

"The Liberty ships? They wouldn't dare!" shouted Mayhew. "Battle stations! Move our ships away from the Hawaii. Re-position the fleet to provide coverage against any more torpedoes. Damn those idiots from Liberty!" he swore angrily. "Major, confirm the torps really did come from the Liberty cruisers. I don't want to start a war unless we really have to!"

Similar events were taking place aboard the Liberty and Rheinland capital ships, as each fleet came under fire from an unknown enemy and all had assumed the other House fleets had taken the opportunity for a swift strike hoping to catch their targets off-guard.

Tanya shook her head in frustration as she watched the explosions impact the fleets. Then she screamed and pounded her fists against the window of her cabin, as the armadas pulled away from the Hawaii, clearly attempting to place their fleets in a more defensive position.

"No! Come back!" she yelled futilely.

Something had gone terribly wrong and Tanya felt suddenly afraid. She feared for Rutger, but to attempt communicating with him would risk her signal being scanned, thus confirming his involvement. A sharp knock at her cabin door startled her from her thoughts and she drew her blaster.

"Yes?" she asked more firmly than she felt.

"Evelyn, it's Carshalton," came the muffled reply from the other side of the door.

Tanya walked over to the door and opened it slowly. She saw the Marshal standing alongside a battered, bruised Travis Carter and her heart leapt though she quelled the emotion fiercely. She stood aside and allowed the two men to enter.

"Quickly, now!" she hissed, then closed the door behind them as they shuffled inside.

"I need a drink," grumbled the ex-bounty hunter. Without asking permission, Travis moved over to a counter and began pouring himself some milky liquid into a small shotglass. He downed it quickly and poured himself another.

"So what now, Evelyn?" asked Carshalton. He heard Travis snort something incomprehensible from across the room, but ignored it. "We have Travis. We all saw the explosions from the House fleets. Mason must be up to something, my men tell me he hasn't even left his office, though some people have left it."

Tanya raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, who?"

"They don't know. They sent me pictures though," Carshalton said and produced a small palmtop from under his brown synth-leather jacket. "Recognise her?" he asked pointing at a striking Kusari woman.

"Yes. I know her," replied Tanya, recognising Hideko, an aide to Kenji Akamoto. "Interesting. Mason is working with Hideko. Hideko is close," Tanya hesitated. "To Kenji. What is it that binds them together?"

Travis mumbled something again.

"What did you say?" asked Tanya, turning to face the man. Travis also turned to face her and the Marshal, his expression serious.

"Outcasts," said Travis. "Mason is an Outcast. Hideko is an Outcast. I'll bet a dromedary full of niobium that all of those senior people Carshalton told me about before are all Outcasts. With the exception of a few, perhaps."

He threw an empty shotglass at a wall where it shattered into a thousand fragments.

"It's all about the damned Outcasts and their purging of systems near the Omicrons. By de-stabilising the Houses, it weakens them. If the Houses are each threatened with war, they'll pull back all of their ships from the independent and rebel zones, reinforcing their own borders."

Tanya and Carshalton nodded, agreeing with Travis' logic so far.

"And Mason is masterminding this?" asked Tanya.

Travis snorted.

"He thinks he is. I think it's that damned Kusari witch who's pulling the strings."

Tanya laughed.

"We are the fairer sex," she mused.

Carshalton sputtered.

"This is no laughing matter, Evelyn."

Travis snorted again.

"Shut up, Travis," barked the young woman glaring at him. "You're right, Marshal. This is serious indeed. Presuming we three are the only ones who know of this campaign, how do you propose we deal with it?"

The Marshal considered this and strode over to the window, where more fireballs and explosions were lighting up the dark, Sirius night.

"Firstly, we need to stop that," he said pointing at the carnage outside the Hawaii. "And I'll speak with Commander Day. I know the old coyote from our Liberty Navy days. He'll listen to me. You two need to find a way of stopping the House armadas from firing on each other. If that happens, the Outcasts win."

Tanya nodded and walked over to her bedroom where she disappeared for a few moments, leaving Travis and the Marshal to stare at each other.

"How do you know her, Travis?" asked the Marshal.

Travis shrugged.

"It's a long story, Carshalton. To be honest, I don't have the spit to tell it. Maybe if we live through this, I'll share a Sidewinder Fang and share the details."

Before the Marshal could reply, Tanya returned with a jumpsuit in her hand that she threw at Travis.

"Let's go, flyboy. I made arrangements, there's a couple of Eagles outfitted for dog-fighting in the secondary hangar bay," she said, zipping up her own suit. "I presume you remember how to fly, Travis?" she remarked icily.

"Babe, I taught you which is the throttle," replied Travis with equal candour.

Carshalton rolled his eyes, then spoke curtly addressing them both.

"Folks, the torps hitting those capships can only be launched within one klick. This means we should be able to see a wing or two of fighters firing these. But we can't. None of the Hawaii's scanners are picking anything up."

"What are you saying, Marshal? The Hawaii is firing them?"

"Not a chance. The fleets would establish the firing solutions would originate from the Hawaii and blow her out of orbit. I reckon Mason is using cloaked fighters. Like the Rheinlanders."

Travis looked displeased.

"If this is true, they could be anywhere! How are we going to find them? Space is a big place, Marshal," he spat.

"That's my job. You'll just have to trust me," replied the Marshal. "Until then, try and spot any torp exhaust trails. They might lead you back to a cloaked fighter. Good luck."

Carshalton left the cabin.

Travis stared at Tanya.

"Evelyn, huh?"

"Oh, be quiet. It's a necessary burden."

"Yeah, whatever babe."

Tanya walked over to the window of her cabin watching the flame-lit space. Travis began to undress.

"Tanya?"

She paused, but didn't turn around.

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For saving my butt. That jail was beginning to smell."

Tanya smiled, but still, didn't turn around. She sniffed.

"And you do smell. Perhaps you should shower before putting that on?"

(cont'd)


	20. Chapter 20

Tanya banked her Eagle into a tight starboard turn, fired off two countermeasures and mid-turn killed her engines. As her Eagle spun clockwise, she aimed her rack of Skyblasts at two torpedoes and sprayed them at the slow-moving ordnance. The stream of glowing yellow bolts punctured the night sky and slammed home into the two shells, forcing them to explode.

She engaged her thrusters at full-burn and smiled menacingly when she saw what she hoped to see; the exploding torps had created a cloud of dust, metal and flame and through it burst the shimmering image of a cloaked fighter!

"Travis, I have one in my sights. Engaging!" she yelled over the comm. Her radar indicated Travis was nearby, above and to her rear. She fired another burst from her Skyblasts and still with her thrusters powered her fighter as fast as it would allow. Shards of metal, space rocks and other debris bounced off her Brigandine shield and just before Tanya could centre the craft in her sights, the shimmering fighter engaged it's cloaking device and disappeared.

"Frack!" she swore. "Travis, I lost him. Can you see it?"

"No, babe. I can't see it anywhere. That's the third time now, these guys are good," Travis replied, zigzagging his ship in case anyone happened to 'sight' him.

Tanya nodded, her helmet bobbing once on Travis' HUD.

"Agreed. Whoever these people are they know how to fly. Each time we've managed to catch a visual of them, they're able to evade any incoming fire until their cloaking device is functional again," she said.

A burst of laser fire pounded Tanya's ship. She wrestled with the controls and pulled her nose down into a sharp dive towards the Hawaii, then swiftly pulled up again as another burst of lasers burned the space beneath her ship harmlessly. She span her Eagle into a roll and manoeuvred it between some large antennae protruding from the Hawaii. As a large dish passed by her cockpit, Tanya spoke again, more brightly this time.

"Travis. Since we've been out here, no more torps have hit the House fleets, right?" she asked.

"Right. Not a single one," he replied proudly.

"So if these asteroid shunters want to complete their mission and get the fleets to attack each other, we're in their way, right?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I guess so. Where are you going with this, babe?" countered Travis. He banked his Eagle into an S-turn then killed his engines drifting into a full spin.

"At some point, these fighters will have to come after us. And when they do, we should lead them to the Hawaii. Their guns will help us," Tanya suggested. Before the ex-bounty hunter could reply, Tanya yelled over the comm. again. "Two more torps, at the Exeter!"

Travis punched his thrusters to maximum power and felt his body lean into his seat. He fired his Skyblasts at the torps and screamed a battle cry as he closed the distance. The exploding torps rocked his ship as he flew through the blast radius and grinned once he checked his rear visuals and saw only dust remained.

"Two less torps, Evelyn," he said, mockingly accenting her alias. For now, Tanya was still posing as her alter ego, Evelyn O'Callaghan, Security Director of the Daumann Corporation.

"Shut up, Travis," replied Tanya curtly. "And pay attention. Those fighters will be running out of torps soon and if they want them to land they'll need to take us out."

As though predicted, a line of laser fire raked her shields. Tanya glanced up and saw a cloaked fighter shimmering in the dark Sirius night slicing towards her ship; it had the body shape of an Outcast Sabre.

"On me!" she yelled and thrust her Eagle forwards once more. Her on-board computer blared a missile-lock warning and before she could react her shield was at thirty percent as the missile detonated. She pulled her Eagle into a tight turn and for a few seconds she gained a respite from the heavy fire, allowing her shields to recharge a little. The shimmering, partly-cloaked Sabre was following her turn but being slightly heavier found it hard to gain a bearing on her ship.

Tanya hit the brakes on her ship; sending her Eagle into a sudden halt, forward thrusters bursting into life. She waited for the Sabre to overtake her, then powered her rearward thrusters into life again and found herself behind the Sabre. Tanya unloaded a volley of three missiles quickly, hoping to keep the Sabre off-balance. The missiles exploded and Tanya took her chance. She fired her Skyblasts in a long, continued burst ignoring her power meter, which was slowly winding down. The powerful photon blasts pounded into the enemy ship and fragments of hull began to come away. Tanya held the trigger down and smiled when the Sabre seemed to slow down and move sluggishly. She fired one more missile at the damaged ship and pulled her own Eagle away. Moments later, an explosion from under her ship verified her target was destroyed and it disappeared from her radar.

"Nice job, Ms O'Callaghan," said a new voice over the comm. It was Marshal Carshalton.

"I hope he was the best the enemy have to offer," said Tanya doubtfully. She banked her ship into a gentle turn. "What news do you have, Marshal?" she asked anxiously.

"Good and bad, I'm afraid. I'll start with the good. It seems as though no further torpedoes have hit the massed armadas around the Hawaii. Both you and Carter have done well, so far."

"The bad?" she asked. Tanya dreaded to think.

"Several frigate sized vessels along with fighter escorts are approaching galactic east of the Hawaii. It seems that they went through the Sigma-17 jump hole and somehow avoided any scans at Atka," said the Marshal. "They're not ours."

Tanya's mind raced. The rebel factions had never before deployed anything other than their very heavy fighters and wondered whom these ships were affiliated to.

"I'll check them out," said Travis. "Marshal, get those greenhorn hunters into space to back-up," he hesitated. "Evelyn. I'll set a waypoint east and verify if these new ships are friendly."

Without waiting for a reply, Travis swiftly set a new waypoint on his nav-map and engaged the auto-pilot.

"Good luck, Travis," said Tanya. "Come back in one piece."

"Sure, any piece in particular?" he joked.

"Why don't you both get a room?" asked an exasperated Marshal. "Travis, the instant you find out who these people are inform us on the Hawaii. Don't be a hero. Evelyn, once you take out a few a ships I doubt any others will have the appetite for more. Get inside the Hawaii and re-arm. We may need you again later. I'll have my boys join you in space. Over and out."

Tanya liked Carshalton. He was the no-nonsense commander of any wing you wanted to fly for. The one who knew their business, knew when to attack and more importantly, knew when to consider other options.

"Affirmative. How did the Admiral take the news?" she asked.

"Badly. He said something I couldn't repeat over the comms, but he's ordered several wings of Falcons on standby."

She banked her ship and waited for the other two pilots to join her space.

It was going to be a long day.

Travis relaxed in his cockpit as the autopilot carried his Eagle to the next waypoint. He checked the computer and concluded it would be at least an hour before he made contact with any other vessels. The ex-bounty hunter raised a boot and leaned it over a console casually, then flipped up the visor to his helm and lit a cigar.

He opened a private channel to Tanya and slowly drew on the cigar as the faint outgoing call beep echoed from the console speaker softly. The line connected with a burst of static at first, then he heard Tanya's surprised voice.

"Travis?"

"Yeah. It's me babe. We're on a scrambled channel. Hope that's okay with you," he said quickly.

Tanya laughed genuinely, the throaty sound firing his blood.

"So you can whisper sweet nothings to me?" she replied. Travis ignored her jibe.

"Kill anymore cloaked ships?"

"Yes. Three more. Though we lost one of the greenhorns."

Travis could almost sense her shrug.

"Hey. I wanted to talk to you."

"I guessed that, hotshot. What about?" asked Tanya.

"About that Daumann whelp. Y'know. Moneybags."

Tanya didn't immediately reply.

"What about him?"

"Do you love him?" Tanya laughed again, much to Travis' annoyance. He swallowed down a pique of anger, though when he next spoke his voice was still tense. "Well?"

"Surely you're not jealous, flyboy?" she teased. "I mean, you can have anyone you want! Your rugged good looks, the charm, the great physique, so you continually tell me. Money too. What else could a woman want?"

Travis grumbled something under his breath that Tanya couldn't hear.

"Why do you want to know anyway?" she asked. "Rutger is a nice guy. He treats me well. With respect. More than I can say for you," replied Tanya.

"Oh. So first name terms now is it? Rutger?"

"Yes. Rutger. He's wealthy, but he's humble with it." She heard Travis grumble something incoherent. "Oh. And did I mention he hasn't tried to kill me yet?"

Tanya knew that last comment would hurt him, but it needed saying. Of all the people in Sirius that Tanya had met, Rutger had been the purest of them all. She would do everything in her power to defend that, in the hope that other people would follow in his steps. The ex-bounty hunter didn't reply for a long while, clearly turning over their conversation in his mind. Travis frowned deep in thought.

At last Tanya broke the silence.

"Travis. You mean a lot to me, you know that," she began. Travis' heart leapt but before he could say anything Tanya spoke again. "But you are the closest thing to family I have. Before our training I can't remember anything, of my family, my friends, my life. Just vague recollections and visions that come and go like smoke. Faces. Voices. Surely you know how that feels?"

"Yeah. I get the same," he replied softly.

"You're truly like a brother to me. And deep down, you know it too," said Tanya. "We're of the same blood. We know only how to kill, not how to love. You left the programme early, so you're more," she hesitated. "Human. You have a soul. And I'm trying to discover mine."

Travis couldn't reply. A lump had welled in his throat so large it rendered him capable of only a grunt. He knew he'd never met anyone like Tanya and never would. Her imagined her bright, green eyes, the warm smile that caught his attention months back on the Hawaii when he first saw her in the Orbital Spa ready room. He remembered her laugh, her voice, everything about her made him want her.

He glanced down at his console and frowned again as he saw several large blips appear on the radar. A soft beeping that became louder forced him into action and Travis snapped down the visor to his helmet and brought his feet down onto the pedals firmly.

"Travis, what's that noise?" asked Tanya. "Is that your radar?"

"Yeah, babe. I'm getting close. Give me a moment and I'll be in visual range," he replied. Travis flipped switches, hit buttons and reconfigured settings on his console and control stick in a flurry of movement. "By the floes of Tahoe, what the hell is that?!" whispered Travis. "I'm sending you a visual feed. Get it patched to Carshalton. Send it to everyone!" shouted the ex-bounty hunter urgently.

Tanya waited for the feed to come through, there was a slight delay given how far away, Travis was now.

A series of alarms came over the comm., Tanya recognised several missile locks and shouted over her comm. to check if Travis was okay.

"Tanya! Get out of there! Leave the Hawaii now...!" shouted Travis over the comm.

Then static.

Silence.

"Travis?" whispered Tanya.

She punched buttons on her console and as the image began to form amidst the grey, flickering static she shivered.

It was a ship, a huge, glowing monolith cruising through the Sirius night. The colourings and shape were unmistakeable, everyone in Sirius had seen the footage the terrorist group known as The Order flooded information networks with several years ago. Surrounding the ship like a cloud of angry hornets were dozens of smaller glowing shapes.

Someone had summoned them to the Luxury Liner Hawaii.

The Nomads had returned to Sirius.

Tanya landed her Eagle on the Hawaii recklessly at breakneck speed, cruising to within ten metres of the docking port before activating her auto-pilot.

She had yelled over her comm to both Carshalton and Admiral Day, informing them of the imminent danger the Hawaii was in. Both men responded with quick scorn, though changed their views once she uploaded Travis' last communication, a scan showing an incoming Nomad battle group.

On returning to her cabin, Tanya checked her personal mail and found a message from Admiral Day. She read it, smiled as they outlined their plans for defence, then swiftly stripped off her jumpsuit and almost leapt into the shower. The young woman closed her eyes and steadied herself on the glass panels with her hands, before leaning her head back to allow the spray of hot water to flow over her face. Her blonde hair lay between her shoulder blades and created several rivulets of water down her back and she stood motionless for a few minutes.

"Rest is a weapon," she said to herself finally, then pushed a button slowing the jet of water down. As the water slowly ebbed, Tanya stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself with a towel. She frowned as she stubbed her toe against the lower frame of the cubicle, slowly padded her way back to the main quarters of her cabin to dry her hair.

"Calm is a weapon," she said out loud. She removed the towel and reached up with her arms as far as they would go, then brought them down to touch her feet. Slowly but firmly, Tanya began a series of patterns and exercises designed to relax her mind and prepare her body for what was to come.

When she finished, Tanya dressed swiftly and walked over to a counter and poured some water into a glass. Invigorated, the young woman ran through several scenarios in her mind.

It would take at least four hours before the battleship travelling at the speed her computer calculated would reach the Hawaii. Unless the fighter escort were sent forwards early, an unlikely outcome given the heavy fighter presence aboard the Hawaii, the Hawaii and the House forces remaining would have sufficient time to re-arm and prepare to defend this part of Sirius.

Tanya knew her destiny lay elsewhere.

Somehow, Governor Mason was involved and the origin of the plan to destabilise the colonies no longer lay the door of the Outcasts. Everyone had been used. Everyone had been a pawn in a much, greater game and though it appalled her as she understood how intricate and deep the tendrils of the plan touched, Tanya knew that she too was a part of it.

The terrorist bombings. The assassinations of key ministers. Mason setting up a team of specially trained House assassins to perform the work that no House would accept responsibility for, but he silently led. The luring of three House armadas to a location where war could blossom. The Outcasts unwittingly providing a network of infiltration and subterfuge. The curbing of Kusari hunters from the north of Sirius and the re-focus of their efforts against the Corsairs to the south.

Everything fell into place.

"Knowledge is a weapon," she said to herself once again.

The terminal beeped again and Tanya saw a message from Rutger. She almost moved over to the desk to read the message but instead, paused, then turned the power off and watched the screen fade to black.

Tanya knew that to succeed in the toughest trial she would ever encounter, there was no room for love.

She would need to forget all her experiences following her soul's re-awakening.

Evelyn O'Callaghan was but a painted mask. Tanya Williams, the innocent daughter of a wealthy Cambridge, assigned to fly with Orbital Spa was gone. Now there was only Tanya. The unstoppable House assassin.

Her eyes grew bleak as she studied an interior map of the Hawaii, then strode over to a cabinet that she opened. She withdrew a large, black holdall that she dumped into her bed and unzipped it. She buckled a gun belt to her waist and slammed two blasters into each holster by her thighs. A bandolier laced with various canisters and magazines quickly followed over her shoulder. Two razor-sharp daggers were slipped into hidden sheaths inside the lining of her boots. She produced a bulky rifle the size of a classic shotgun that she checked over then slung over another shoulder. The last item was brought out from the bag slowly, almost reverently.

An object about the length of an adult man's arm, wrapped in dark cloth. Tanya gently unwrapped the cloth and smiled as the lights of her cabin reflected off an enamel scabbarded sword. She slowly, very slowly drew the weapon by it's golden hilt and gasped as the blade of the sword seemed to shine. Inscriptions written in Kusari were etched into the blade near the hilt, two ancient-style dragons forged into the hilt guarded the wielder's hand and the pommel, a third dragon carried a bright, green jade stone in its mouth. Tanya nodded as a memory cut into her vision, Lord Akamoto giving her the weapon, smiling, bowing, a gift to a family friend.

Tanya blinked, then slammed the sword back into it's slightly curved home and tied it across her back.

"Be the weapon," she said out loud in a cold voice bereft of emotion, then stepped out into the corridor.

And the doors hissed closed.

(cont'd)


End file.
